Europe

Porsche closed a €280m triple tranche Schuldschein this week, with the tightest pricing so far this year. This quarter has been characterised by a dominance of German issuance.

Five new investment grade corporate bond deals were priced on Tuesday and, while pricing was competitive, none of the issuers allowed for any growth in the size of the deals as all five used a no-grow strategy.

In what is likely to be seen as a warning shot to covered bond issuers, the European Central Bank has excluded the covered bonds issued by Anadi Bank for repo purposes.

Scor SE, the French reinsurance firm, is set to become the first issuer to sell restricted tier one (RT1) capital at a benchmark size in dollars or euros. Unlike the other RT1s issued so far in core currencies, it is also set to benefit from an investment grade rating.

Ivanhoé Cambridge, a Canadian property investor, sold a 4.2% stake in the French real estate investment trust Gecina on Monday night through an accelerated bookbuild run by Goldman Sachs.

Orders peaked at more than €3.4bn for BBVA’s five year non-preferred senior deal on Tuesday, with floating rate notes starting to prove popular among both investors and issuers.

Royal Bank of Scotland was in the market selling €4.75bn of debt across three tranches from its holding company and operating company on Tuesday, putting a large dent in its recently updated funding targets.

Following an expansion in its mortgage lending business, German building society Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall (BSH) has announced plans to mimic Wüstenrot Bausparkasse and set up its own covered bond programme.

State Export-Import Bank of Ukraine has opened books on a hryvnia Eurobond with an eye-catching 16% area yield.

European Central Bank president Mario Draghi on Monday welcomed proposed EU powers over the clearing of derivatives in foreign jurisdictions, calling recent legislative efforts by the European Commission a “necessary initiative”.

Orders reached €1.6bn for Západoslovenská energetika (ZSE)’s five year note on Monday, marking a subscription rate of five times for Slovakia’s largest distribution operator.

Koninklijke Philips, the Dutch healthcare technology group, cut its stake in Philips Lighting to 18.3% through an accelerated bookbuild on Monday night.