Europe

BC Partners Is buying Promontoria MCS Groupe, the French distressed loan firm and high yield borrower. The funding will refinance its floating rate notes with new bonds.

The two new issues that were priced in the European corporate bond market this week have both tightened from their reoffer spreads. The success of these deals has accelerated the thinking of some issuers and two more roadshows were announced on Thursday.

High yield bond portfolios have been left dangerously undiversified under central bank policies, meaning investors have little margin for error, French investor Tobam warned this week, ahead of the Jackson Hole meetings in Wyoming.

Nykredit Realkredit is looking at the five year part of the curve for a new covered bond offering, following closely behind a €500m short seven year deal from fellow Danish lender BRFkredit this week.

Aegon became the first financial institution to price a fixed-rate senior trade with a negative yield this week, attracting strong demand from European money market funds for the €500m one year senior deal.

Two SSA borrowers printed dollar benchmarks on Wednesday, pulling off solid trades in spite of some investors put off by tight spreads.

A dry spell for the equity-linked market in Europe was broken on Wednesday when TAG Immobilien, the German residential property company, issued a new €262m five year convertible bond as part of a wider refinancing effort.

The European Financial Stability Facility on Wednesday sent a request for proposals for its deal window next week, with bankers saying that the supranational has a wide variety of options. The trade is likely to receive a big welcome in a hot euro market, as evidenced by an impressive Unédic trade on Wednesday — dubbed a “cracker” by bankers away from the deal — and equally strong euro deals a day earlier.

Former French prime minister François Fillon will become a new partner at Tikehau Capital in September, a source told GlobalCapital on Wednesday, with a ‘full dedication’ job to increase the firm’s domestic business and international reputation.

BRFkredit was more than twice subscribed for a €500m short seven year covered bond on Wednesday, in what could be an important deal in kicking off a flurry of issuance at the end of August.

European corporate bond investors had only had one corporate bond deal to consider in August before LafargeHolcim brought its €750m 12 year deal on Tuesday. But that lean period looks to be over as ISS Global followed with a €600m 10 year transaction on Wednesday.

European investors had just 12 days between corporate bond deals this August as issuers looked to take advantage of the strong issuance conditions still in effect.