Europe

NordLB issued its largest Pfandbrief since 2011 on Thursday, but the oversubscription ratio was on the low side — despite a relatively attractive new issue concession and a large order from the European Central Bank.

The coupon for Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena’s €750m comeback tier two deal was compared with a whole host of other subordinated transactions this week — with varying opinions on what represented good value.

UniCredit has become the first Italian bank to sell a non-preferred senior bond, clearing the path for further issuance out of the country.

State owned German rail operator Deutsche Bahn steamed back into the investment grade corporate bond market on Thursday, choosing an unusual maturity that was still well received by investors. The same applied to Ren Finance, which brought a sub-benchmark 10 year deal following a roadshow earlier in the week.

Macedonia has set final terms for its first international bond in over a year, with books for the deal hitting over €3.5bn

Private equity firm Sun European Partners is merging its portfolio business Flamingo with Afriflora, the world’s largest exporter of roses to Europe, and funding it with an all-leveraged loan deal.

A combined €48bn of cash swelled the orderbooks for Italy and Portugal’s deals on Wednesday, dispelling any fears that the reduction of the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing programme would hamper demand.

The Inter-American Development Bank provided further proof on Wednesday that there is deep demand at the five year part of the dollar curve — but another supranational is stepping up to test the long end of the currency for the first time this year.

JC Flowers sold the last of its stake in OneSavings Bank, the UK challenger bank, via a £95m accelerated bookbuild on Tuesday night.

Expat Asset Management has joined German exchange group Deutsche Boerse as a new exchange traded fund issuer, debuting with an ETF that provides exposure to Bulgarian stocks.

Brunello Cucinelli, the Italian luxury goods entrepreneur, sold a 6% stake in the fashion brand named after himself through a block trade on Tuesday night, to raise money to spend on charitable projects.

German retail group REWE International has become the first company to launch a Schuldschein at benchmark size this year, a sign that German blue chips may be active in the market this year.