Europe

The rise of populism in Europe has claimed its first capital markets victims. Brace yourself for more.

AlzChem, the German niche chemicals producer, has postponed its €174m Frankfurt IPO, blaming difficult market conditions.

Two Russian corporate deals in as many weeks have been stuffed down investors’ throats. Both were deemed tight, but Rusal, the first, sold off and is yet to recover to par. Russian issuers are famously price-driven, and the deals prompted complaints — but market dynamics mean that tight pricing is here to stay.

Belgium defied turmoil afflicting European government bond spreads this week, pulling in big books for a dual tranche euro benchmark. The sovereign's success may have emboldened Finland to follow suit with its own barbell transaction.

Criteria Caixa, the unlisted holding company, has sold a 5.3% stake in CaixaBank, the Spanish lender, for €1.06bn, through an accelerated bookbuild launched on Monday night that was completed without a covered message.

The Business Growth Fund has teamed up with First Derivatives to invest in early stage technology companies in the UK, a sector the country's chancellor cited in the autumn budget as requiring extra funding.

Two public sector borrowers had very contrasting fortunes with no-grow three year dollar bond issues on a volatile Tuesday.

Two weeks after printing €250m of triple-C rated notes, container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd on Tuesday sailed into the market for an add-on.

Corporate borrowers that were waiting on the side lines have decided against pulling the trigger on Tuesday, after sharp moves in French government bonds put wider markets on the back foot.

BC Partners has sold 13.2% of Com Hem, the Swedish provider of cable television, broadband and telephone services, for Skr2.3bn ($275m), through an accelerated bookbuild launched on Monday night.

Vodafone has hired banks to arrange a 30 year US dollar Formosa bond, as corporate issuers get stuck into a market that has been teeming with bank trades this year.

The sheer amount of excess liquidity in the leveraged finance market in Europe has initiated a relentless repricing wave. And on Tuesday, the head of leveraged finance at a bank in London went as far as to say that the supply/demand imbalance was so extreme it threatened medium term market stability.