Europe

Fridays were once a no-go for new issue markets, but in recent years that mentality has changed and in recent weeks we have seen corporates price some sizeable bond deals. This week looks set for more of the same.

Russian steel company TMK has launched a consent solicitation for its $500m 6.75% 2020s with the purpose of removing IPSCO Tubulars, its US based subsidiary, as a guarantor on the notes. An investor in London said that he expects bondholders to agree to the changes.

The German, Austrian and Italian export credit agencies all agreed at VTB’s Russia Calling Forum in Moscow on Wednesday that Russia was one of their preferred destinations for financing projects, and heads of several Western companies said they had appetite for ECA-backed investment there.

JP Morgan made an aggressive manoeuvre in the equity-linked bond market on Tuesday night by placing a $250m tap of BASF’s innovative bond with warrants, having outbid other banks, including Deutsche Bank, which had structured and led the original deal.

Another pair of public sector borrowers tapped the dollar market, hitting two and three years respectively, in contrast to Tuesday’s salvo of long end trades. One of the issuers printed well beyond its initial size expectations.

Municipality Finance issued its first green private placement on Wednesday, coming alongside a drive for more green assets on the lending side.

Nordea announced on Wednesday that it would become a systematic internaliser for FX and interest rate derivatives and cash bonds under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II.

Ringier, the Swiss media company, launched a €50m Schuldschein on Tuesday that is expected to attract a wider range of investors than its first outing in the market last December, a successful €50m issue.

Citi has made Emmanuel Regniez co-head of investment banking in France, alongside Nicolas Desombre.

Greencoat UK Wind, the wind farm operator managed by Greencoat Capital, has raised £340m ($447.59m) to invest in new assets, after a fully marketed share sale on the London Stock Exchange.

Russian lender Credit Bank of Moscow (CBM) raised Rb14.4bn ($250m) of fresh equity with a 13.4% capital increase this week.

Industrial & Financial Systems (IFS) closed the loan funding for its acquisition of WorkWave without further syndication on Wednesday, evidence the market is still keen on small size offerings amid a raft of large deals.