Europe

Quite often, a record period of issuance comes to an abrupt halt as investors require a period of time to digest the volume of issuance, allow for some performance of the bonds they have bought and cash piles to replenish. After a record third quarter in the euro corporate bond market however, investors are keen for more.

Core European covered bonds with intermediate to long tenors offer great value against sovereign and agency bonds, says one big beast covered bond investor. But with the European Central Bank buying 20% less in primary deals, a modest spread widening is needed to revitalise sentiment.

Barclays is on the verge of signing up for four more years of its partnership with the Unreasonable Group, a company that supports high-achieving entrepreneurs leading businesses that solve social or environmental problems.

Dmitry Gladkov has been promoted to be Renaissance Capital’s acting global head of investment banking, replacing James Friel.

Italy’s latest political drama is making investors nervous, and rightly so — when the leader of a country’s main governing party accuses European leaders of market ‘terrorism’, in the vein of an ‘EU equals the USSR’ conspiracy theorist, then you’d be right to dump its bonds. But the steadiness of Spanish and Portuguese govvies through all this shows not only that the term ‘eurozone periphery’ may have to be consigned to the historical dustbin, but that the firewalls erected by those same European leaders after the last sovereign debt crisis are standing firm.

Berlin Hyp AG (BHH) has mandated joint leads for a roadshow to update investors on its green Pfandbrief programme, after which it plans to issue a €500m deal.

Kommuninvest was able to get more than enough demand for a rare three year dollar benchmark on Tuesday, despite the deal being priced at a level that onlooking SSA bankers said was flat to fair value.

ING’s German subsidiary has issued its largest ever Pfandbrief, one of the biggest from a German borrower this year, which, in the context of a volatile market backdrop, was deemed a great success.

Burford Capital, the UK litigation finance company, completed a £196.1m capital increase on Monday night, selling just over 10.4m shares at £18.50 a share. The company's shares fell below the offer price in trading before recovering throughout the day on Tuesday.

Cepsa, the Spanish multinational oil and gas firm, will be worth up to €8.08bn when it lists on the Spanish Stock Exchanges later this month, according to terms released on Tuesday.

Jason Rothenberg, former head of MetLife’s corporate private placements in Europe, has returned to the US to start a new role at the institution.

UK REIT Tritax Big Box has signed a £250m short term facility, as the large logistics warehouse investor looks to make acquisitions.