Europe
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Phoenix Group, the UK life assurance fund consolidator plans to raise £1.5bn of underwritten debt to part-fund its £3.24bn cash and shares acquisition of Standard Life Aberdeen’s insurance business, in what is likely to be one of the biggest sterling acquisitions this year.
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Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten this week capitalised on movements in short end dollar rates to print its largest trade in nearly two years. It was the solitary dollar benchmark this week, but with the Chinese New Year holidays out of the way and Asian investors back at their desks, bankers expect supply to pick up next week and for the very short end to still be the place to be. -
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A new study of green bond pricing has stopped short of saying that green bond issuers can generally expect to get tighter new issue premiums. But the report’s lead author did say: “Green bond buyers can’t expect to receive a new issue premium — that is itself quite a bold statement.”
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GlobalCapital understands the Swiss Exchange is considering changing the way a bond becomes eligible for the Swiss Bond Index. This will not only be a significant development, but a welcome one.
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With the return of stability to the euro public sector market, a new wave of borrowing hit this week. Four core European names brought syndications, some of which were able to access unusual or difficult tenors because of the higher rates on offer.
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Italy could retrieve half of the basis points it has lost to Spain in the run-up its general election next weekend — if the vote returns the most market-friendly result, according to a portfolio manager at a leading investment house. Spain, meanwhile, printed a 30 year benchmark with the second largest book ever for a euro sovereign deal in the tenor — another sign that the country is marching towards or already at semi-core status, said bankers.
