Europe
-
The use of technology to drive down the cost of issuance could boost the growth of private debt markets across Europe, said a report commissioned by the Capital Markets Union (CMU) published on February 16. -
US private placement investors are becoming more comfortable with buying sterling tranches, which bankers said will drive pricing down for borrowers.
-
French property companies were in vogue this week as Icade sold its fourth corporate bond in two years, further extending its redemption profile, while Mercialys, the firm spun off from supermarkets group Casino, saw its sub-benchmark deal 2.5 times oversubscribed.
-
Traditional high yield investors have taken advantage of a quiet primary market to raise their complaints about default protection covenants becoming too weak. But its translation into spreads is yet to be seen.
-
-
Albaraka Turk broke new ground last week it has emerged, issuing the first ever Basel III-compliant additional tier one (AT1) from Turkey in a private placement. The deal has set a structuring template for future Turkish AT1 issuance, and has sparked interest among those looking to bring the next, possibly public benchmark, deal, writes Virginia Furness.
-
After the recent equity market volatility, Siemens has decided to push on with the spin-off of its healthcare division, which promises to be the biggest IPO in Germany since the flotation of Deutsche Telekom in 1996. The deal is the first in a promising pipeline of corporate carve-outs this year, writes Aidan Gregory.
-
European high yield bond investors are up in arms at being asked to pay to be members of the European High Yield Association (EHYA), a division of industry body, the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME). They should pay up, if not shut up.
-
French car leasing company ALD printed its largest ever bond deal when it issued an €800m three year floating rate note this week, just three months after it had printed a similar but smaller deal. Chief financial officer Gilles Momper said the success of the deal was helped by the company’s IPO in 2017.
-
Grand City Properties, the German residential property firm, printed eight and a half year Swiss franc bonds on Wednesday, and also sold a new nine year in euros on Monday alongside a tender for some outstanding bonds and convertibles.
-
The public sector bond market in euros is in rude health thanks to the return of stability at higher yields. Two borrowers took advantage of the conditions to pull off smooth executions with skinny new issue premiums on Thursday.
-
Syndicates have encountered some difficulty in placing financial institution bonds this week, but there is optimism in the face of widening spreads. This is just as well for HSBC’s plans to raise $5bn-$7bn of the most risky form of bank debt in the first half of the year.
