Europe

Corporate bond investors were offered a pair of triple tranche deals on each of the first two days of this week, before more variety arrived on Wednesday.

For emerging market bond investors, every crisis is an opportunity as inflows into the asset class continue to compress yields. Russia, commodity exporters and Mozambique are in focus this week.

Though some bankers have detected a cooling of investors’ thirst for European IPOs in recent weeks, the right names are still flying off the shelves. Delivery Hero, the online food ordering service, is guiding investors in its €866m deal to the top of the price range, and shares in restaurant chain Vapiano rose on their debut.

Aluminium giant Rusal hit the limelight in March when it became the first Russian corporate to issue a Panda bond. But Oleg Mukhamedshin, deputy chief executive, told GlobalRMB that high onshore yields are delaying the company’s return to the Panda market.

The co-founder of Playtech sold down most of his remaining stake in the UK gambling software developer via an overnight placement on Monday, bagging £337.3m.

Part of the selling point of covered bonds is that they are a relatively easy to understand, safe investment. But this has become less true over time, especially in conditional pass through structures. It's time for a more unified approach.

The European leveraged finance market was disappointed this week when Bain Capital’s and Cinven’s €5.3bn bid for German generic drug firm Stada fell apart.

Euro conditions are excellent for public sector borrowers, with Spain pulling in a nearly €30bn book for an €8bn 10 year — which bankers away from the trade said indicated a high presence of quality investors — and KfW raising €5bn after picking a seven year deal over a shorter tenor. Another pair of issuers are now looking to take advantage.

Vapiano, the Italian restaurant chain, rose by 4% on its debut in Frankfurt on Tuesday, as investors bought shares in secondary after half the book was zeroed.

Four European agencies, and a New Zealand sub-sovereign found funds in the Kangaroo market this week. Nederlandse Waterschapsbank (NWB) on Tuesday priced a 10 year tap of a Kangaroo bond some 10bp tighter than where the original issue priced in January. Bankers said the pricing was an indication of the sheer levels of demand for long dated Kangaroo paper.

Greece’s bond yields tumbled to their lowest levels in years after Moody’s upgraded the sovereign last week, and talk of a second market comeback is of the more optimistic kind than just a few months ago. But Greece’s government — which wants to return to bond issuance this year — and its creditors would do well to remember that we’ve been here before. As always, Greece will never enjoy a full market presence without some real debt relief.

On Tuesday, Deutsche Bahn returned to the sterling bond market for the first time in nearly four years. The state-owned German railway company printed a £300m eight year deal, achieving tighter pricing than it would have in euros.