Europe

The smooth execution of cable firm Prysmian's rights issue, which was priced last week, is a further indicator that good Italian companies will still be able to utilise equity capital market solutions, no matter how unstable the country’s political future might look.

Italy’s Tecnimont has agreed a new syndicated loan package totaling €285m from its domestic banking group, with the engineering contractor cutting 25bp off its debt costs.

An innovative liability management exercise by Czech Eurobond issuer Net4Gas is unlikely to be repeated in the near term due to limitations on the koruna corporate bond market, according to bankers on the deal.

Caius Capital said on Monday morning that it would pursue its dispute over the regulatory status of a UniCredit capital instrument, after the European Banking Authority rejected its request to open an investigation.

The European Securities and Markets Authority on Monday issued fines to five banks from the Nordic region totalling €2.475m, for issuing credit ratings without having gained the necessary approval.

Find out how far European sovereigns have progressed in their 2018 plans at the start of the third quarter.

At the end of a dead week for equity block trading in Europe, Barclays hit the market on Thursday night with a £78m sale of stock in Hays, the UK recruitment consultancy, on behalf of Equiom Turst, a Guernsey registered trust and a trustee of the Chainpoint Unit Trust.

Prysmian, the Italian telecommunications manufacturer and cable company, got strong investor support for its rights issue, launched to partially fund the $3bn acquisition of US firm General Cable.

Rating: Baa1/BBB+/Baa1 (Moody’s/S&P/Fitch)

Concerns from some fund managers about the terms of Altice’s new €2.5bn-equivalent bond were swamped by orders from other investors eager to bag single-B paper with a big coupon from a core high yield issuer. After a series of successful investor push-backs on deal terms, the debt laden French telecom proved this week that borrowers still can walk away with loose covenants, writes Victor Jimenez.

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AA+

FIG funding project after project has had to be postponed because of higher volatility levels in 2018, leading to a build-up in supply at the beginning of the summer break. With banks growing fearful of market overload, funding teams are thinking hard about whether August could be a window of opportunity after all. Tyler Davies reports.