Europe

Ukrainian steel and mining company Metinvest has released initial price guidance for its dual tranche bond, which is bring printed in conjunction with a tender offer for the company’s 2021s.

Heightened market volatility spooked Europe's equity investors in the week before Easter which has forced issuers on to the back foot since the holiday.

Private placement investors have noted a widening in secondary market spreads for the bonds of UK utilities. That means they may be able to price private placements for these borrowers within their outstanding sterling bond curves, depending on maturity, which has not been easy in the last few years.

The Schuldschein market's first quarter of the year did not exceed its participants' wildest dreams. German speaking borrowers have maintained a healthy deal flow, but landmark deals from exotic locations have been lacking, leaving arrangers frustrated.

ECM director Nishit Ruparelia is understood to have left Citi before the Easter break, having been at the bank for over 13 years.

The European Investment Bank will come to market on Wednesday for a seven year sterling note, eschewing the more common tenors of five years and below.

The FANGs, the catchy grouping of high growth tech disruptors, may have made sense in the past but the unique pressures being faced by each business as it matures and the economic cycle turns should lead investors to differentiate more between the technology-enabled stars of the US equities market.

Industrial conglomerate Melrose has prevailed in its £8bn hostile bid for UK engineering firm GKN, after weeks of sabre-rattling rhetoric on both sides. Looking at GKN’s shaky defence, it is hard to see how there could have been any other outcome.

Speculative grade borrowers stayed on the sidelines of the primary market on Tuesday. While bankers said the deal pipeline has a healthy list of issuers ready for this month, investors warned that demand may be choosier than in the first quarter.

Despite a turbulent market backdrop on Tuesday, Compagnie de Financement Foncier (CFF) took advantage of the fresh money that is usually put to work at the start of each quarter to issue a defensive €1.5bn covered bond with a ‘very generous’ starting spread.

ABN Amro is set to return to the covered bond market with its second deal of the year and its longest so far. At the same time The Mortgage Society of Finland plans a roadshow.

Cherkizovo Group, Russia’s largest meat producer, has launched a $300m-plus secondary public offering on the Moscow Exchange to boost liquidity in its stock and raise funds for acquisitions and debt repayment.