Europe

The European Investment Bank printed a €5bn 10 year benchmark on Wednesday — the second largest deal of the year from a non-sovereign SSA issuer — dispelling any lingering concerns over the market’s reaction to the Italian election result.

Eurazeo, the French private equity group, sold its remaining stake in Accor, the restructured hotel company, through a €552m equity block trade on Tuesday night that cleared at one of the year's tightest discounts.

Swedish Export Credit Corporation on Wednesday priced what bankers away from the deal said was a “very strong trade”, as it printed in the same five year tenor that has brought success for SSAs over the last few weeks. But one borrower is set to attempt a tenor that has not been visited since late January.

On Wednesday, German business software company SAP printed a €1.5bn triple tranche deal at tight spreads following more than a year and a half without issuing, while American IT services firm DXC sold its first non-dollar deal.

Technopolis, the Finnish office space company, has signed a €518m multi-tranche loan, swapping most of its bilateral bank debt lines for syndicated funding.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp issued a five year sterling floating rate bond on Wednesday but was unable to match the size or spread of United Overseas Bank, which recently issued the first Singaporean covered bond in sterling.

Bank of Montreal offered investors a €500m four year floating rate bond on Wednesday, continuing a trend of issuers looking at the FRN format. The order books were thinly subscribed despite the defensive format of the trade.

Bank of Ireland enjoyed strong demand for its first covered bond issue for over two years on Wednesday, pricing the deal at its tightest spread over the French covered bond market since the sovereign credit crisis.

Hiscox, a London-listed insurer, opened books on a short five year senior bond in sterling on Wednesday, following a period of underperformance for market.

Credit Suisse is planning to issue its first ever green bond, with the proceeds earmarked for financing sustainable energy projects and climate action initiatives.

Gazprom has mandated five banks for a euro benchmark bond with a maturity between eight and 10 years.

Investors are seeing the positives from last weekend’s Italian general election — despite a strong showing for populist parties and a hung parliament result — driving the 10 year BTP/Bund spread to a tighter point than it was before the vote.