Europe

A pair of borrowers have hit screens for euro benchmarks to be sold during Tuesday’s session, but another nipped in ahead of the rush to price on Monday.

Market participants are “gearing up” to transition from major benchmark interbank offered rates (IBORs), but that only 11% have actually allocated any money to seeing through the initiative, according to a survey conducted by major capital markets trade bodies.

Euro private placement lenders are limbering up for a fight over the right to refinance the first generation of Euro PP deals, many of which are maturing this year. The market began in earnest in 2012, and many of the deals had six year tenors.

Speciality chemicals maker Synthomer and hotel group Radisson Hospitality began roadshows for debut high yield bond offerings in the European market this week, undaunted by recent investor pushback. Meanwhile, Smurfit Kappa, the packaging group, added LBO funding to the high yield pipeline.

A report by Rabobank on Monday highlighted concerns over the feasibility of central clearing for pension funds, saying that the institutions faced more liquidity risks as European rules are phased in.

Shares in Quilter, the UK asset management arm of Old Mutual, performed well in the aftermarket on Monday after its £239m London IPO.

Bank of New Zealand has chosen a covered bond as the format for a new deal, after originally announcing it would consider senior unsecured or covereds.

The UK’s Synthomer plans to raise €600m through a revolving credit facility and privately placed notes, as the unrated chemicals company looks to refinance existing bank debt early.

Svenska Handelsbanken has become the latest bank to open books on its first green bond, as investors showed little sign of running out of thirst for the product.

Turkish assets gave back early gains on Monday morning as investors digested the news of the victory of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his AK Party (AKP) in the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections.

In a move that surprised many in European equity capital markets, Citigroup has changed the leadership of its EMEA ECM team, hiring a senior banker from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The European Investment Bank threw itself into a new type of sterling deal with aplomb, making a splash with a £1bn floater referencing the Sonia benchmark, in what bankers believe may become the new standard for the market.