Europe

Polyphor, the Swiss pharmaceutical company, is increasing the size of its IPO by Sfr15m due to “strong demand” from institutional investors.

The Italian Obbligazioni Bancarie Garantite market has barely reacted to the growing probability that an anti-European coalition between the Five Star Movement and League parties could soon be announced. Even though OBGs are expensive relative to senior unsecured and sovereign bond markets, spreads could well hold steady unless there is a considerable improvement in supply.

Prime Ventures has sold another €111m chunk of its stake in Takeaway.com, the Dutch online food ordering service, after the lock-up from its last block trade in March was waived several days early.

The euro corporate bond market is set bounce back with a vengeance next week, with all bankers expecting heavy supply after two weeks shortened by public holidays.

Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, the State Development Bank of the Republic of Poland, is marketing a dual tranche euro bond.

Vodafone has lived up to its reputation for daring in corporate finance by launching an €18.4bn takeover of Liberty Global’s German business Unitymedia that includes a second outing for the unique and controversial equity-neutral mandatorily convertible bond it first used in 2016, writes Jon Hay.

Vodafone's agreed takeover of Liberty Global's Unitymedia business in Germany and assets in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania for an enterprise value of €18.2bn could set off a wave of other deals in Europe's telecoms market, especially in the UK.

Hedge fund Caius Capital caused a stir this week with its assertion that a swathe of UniCredit’s capital is receiving the wrong regulatory treatment. The bank resoundingly denied it was in trouble, but the dispute has shone a light on the unclear complexity of the treatment of legacy instruments.

The euro bond market should spring back into life next week, with a pair of quiet weeks safely in the rear view mirror.

Investors may be underestimating the chance of a Eurosceptic, populist government taking power in Italy, one expert on the country warned this week, as the Five Star Movement and Northern League on Thursday made strong progress on forming a coalition — without any mainstream parties. When the general election in early March failed to deliver a government, such a coalition was widely deemed the worst possible outcome for the market — particularly as one of the few policies the duo share is a looser fiscal policy.

The Futures Industry Association on Thursday broadly endorsed the need for mechanisms that help deal with extreme volatility on trading venues, arguing that there shouldn't be a "one-size-fits-all" approach.

The global pressure on emerging markets, triggered by a multitude of factors but most obviously a rapidly strengthening dollar, has been felt across the asset class. The most notable casualty in equities has been Turkey, which at the beginning of 2018 was expected to produce a bumper crop of IPOs this year.