Europe

Shares in Wilmcote Holdings, the UK specialty chemicals investment company, closed 10.4% higher on Thursday after they began trading on London’s Alternative Investment Market.

Nederlandse Waterschapsbank on Thursday became the latest issuer to tap into a hot summer market for dollars, increasing a tap from its initial size while printing flat to its curve.

Two UK corporates completed successful equity capital markets transactions in the midst of the summer lull this week, providing investors with a small amount of supply.

Switzerland’s Valiant Bank is reportedly close to issuing its debut covered bond, with a Swiss franc-denominated issue expected first, possibly followed by a euro benchmark. But the restrictive Swiss covered bond law means the deal will be contractually structured.

Investors are eagerly awaiting the first senior non-preferred (SNP) bond from an Italian bank, but UniCredit is not thought to be considering issuing the instrument before national lawmakers have legislated for it.

A growing number of European high yield borrowers are replacing their bonds with leveraged loan debt. This week, investment management company Neuberger Berman decided to add leveraged loans into its bond strategy, and said more investors should follow suit to avoid missing new speculative grade issuance.

Commerzbank attracted as much demand and paid an identical new issue premium for its €750m 10 year covered bond issued on Thursday as Münchener Hypothekenbank (MuHyp) did for its €750m nine year launched a day before. The two transactions show that the summer lull is over and the covered bond market is back in business.

Russian potash company Uralkali signed a $850m pre-export finance facility with 11 banks on Wednesday, showing that investor appetite for the country remains strong despite the US enforcing more sanctions.

European banks are expected to call the first generation of Basel III compliant additional tier one (AT1) instruments, as a prolonged rally in the asset class has made refinancing conditions very attractive for issuers.

Indian company Intas Pharmaceuticals is lining up banks to help it fund an acquisition in Europe and the US, turning back to lenders who helped the company pull off a successful takeover earlier this year. But this time around, it has more bargaining power. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

FMS Wertmanagement has printed its third deal of the summer, scooping up €1bn of short dated euro paper with an opportunistic trade.

Air Berlin, the second biggest airline in Germany, is at risk of defaulting on more than €600m equivalent of bonds, including €130m of convertible bonds, after the carrier filed for insolvency.