Europe

The US has imposed sanctions on two senior officials in the Turkish government, prompting debt and equity markets to sell off and driving Turkish lira to over five to the dollar for the first time in history.

FMO has printed an onshore Georgian lari bond for the first time, with proceeds helping a drive to de-dollarise Georgia’s economy.

A group of Chinese investors lead by Zhongze Group has struck a deal to acquire Irish stockbroking group Goodbody, in the first step towards international expansion.

The woes surrounding House of Fraser, the distressed UK department store chain, mounted this week, when C.banner International, a Chinese retailer, withdrew from talks to buy a majority stake. But the business said it will complete its company voluntary arrangement (CVA) and find new investors.

National Grid, the UK-based electricity and gas transmission group, has become the third issuer this week to print a benchmark corporate bond in euros, taking total volume to €4.25bn in just two days, at a time of year that many in the past have regarded as the start of the summer slowdown.

Investors gave a warm reception to a new €750m four year senior unsecured bond issued by German building materials company HeidelbergCement on Wednesday, covering the deal more than three times.

Europe’s leveraged finance markets are having a hard time slowing down for the traditional summer break. Investors are willing to keep deploying cash and issuers are responding, with several deals scheduled to be priced in the next two weeks.

The merger between DG Hyp and WL Bank has become legally effective and the rebranded entity, DZ Hyp, is now the largest German Pfandbrief issuer.

Two block trades this week bucked a market trend with strong long-only interest supporting both trades, surprising bankers on the transactions.

Aviva has opened a goodwill payment programme for investors who lost money by selling its preference shares after it said it could cancel the securities at par. This follows anger among many holders of the asset class over that announcement.

The green covered bond market looks set for growth, possibly even outpacing the broader green bond market, said Moody’s in a report this week.

Europe’s leveraged finance markets are having a hard time slowing down for their traditional summer break. Investors are willing to keep deploying cash and issuers are responding, with several deals scheduled to be priced in the next two weeks.