Europe

Ineos, the energy conglomerate, launched a refinancing and repricing loan deal on Monday afternoon, extending the run of issuers coming back to cut funding costs in the market.

Credit Suisse has a new head of Europe, Middle East and Africa equity capital markets, as Nick Williams is moving to another job at the bank in New York.

A few of Europe's smaller borrowers are trying their luck now that the storm of issuance that thronged markets through most of January has abated.

Some €26bn was issued in euro covered bonds in January, about 20% of 2017’s expected annual supply. That proportion is consistent with 2016, and suggests February and March will also be busy.

Pehart Tec Group, a Romanian tissue paper manufacturer, has agreed a €24m syndicated loan with three banks.

Turkey found itself firmly in junk territory on Friday after it lost its last investment grade rating from Fitch, but the issuer’s CDS has tightened in response and as Turkey’s blowout trade on January 18 attests, it always has the capability to fund.

Rating downgrades on Friday for Turkey sovereign debt have not dented the appetite of the country’s banks to borrow, with two firms said to be joining Akbank in pursuing loans.

Pension funds and other buy-side institutions are not prepared to meet new variation margin rules expected to come into force on March 1. And if they cannot trade, the regulation is not worth the paper it is written on, delegates heard at a conference in Luxembourg last week.

Shares in Diös Fastigheter, the Swedish property company, closed 4.5% higher on Thursday after it completed its Skr1.85bn ($209m) rights issue to partly finance the acquisition of a portfolio of mainly commercial and retail properties from Castellum in cities in northern Sweden.

This week’s three piece covered bond issue from Crédit Agricole showed considerable demand for long dated covered bonds. Though rates volatility and relative value may have deterred some investors, the high outright yield was simply too attractive for many to ignore.

After a moderate recovery in the value of many UK property stocks since their post-EU referendum slump, Oaktree Capital took the opportunity on Thursday night to sell 10% of Countryside Properties, the UK home builder, for £103.5m.

German building materials maker Xella has cancelled a proposed €350m high yield bond issue, adding that amount to its €1.15bn term loan ‘B’ offering, which backs Lone Star’s $2.3bn buyout of the firm.