Europe

The European Investment Bank set a marker on Wednesday that sterling issuance could be just as hot this month as it was in January last year — as another pair of issuers hoped to add further evidence of that this week.

The UK’s University Partnerships Programme (UPP) has signed a £105m financing arrangement to back University of London’s construction of new student accommodation in Stratford, East London.

Intesa Sanpaolo is seeking other banks to join the €5.2bn loan it has fully underwritten to support Glencore and the Qatar Investment Authority in their acquisition of a stake in Rosneft, the Russian oil company.

French technical and energy services company Spie is mulling its options for the acquisition financing of German peer SAG, but a company source dismissed talk of an imminent high yield offering.

BMW formed part of the auto sector’s traditional charge from pole position into the first corners of the corporate bond market on Wednesday, beginning the new year with a dual tranche trade that paid single digit concessions.

Bank of Cyprus announced a roadshow for its first new-style tier two bond on Wednesday, in a move that will shed light on the strength of risk appetite in the FIG market as investors take a close look at the rare borrower.

ABN Amro issued its third 15 year covered bond in three years on Wednesday and, in a surprise late addition, tacked on a sub-benchmark 20 year.

Royal Bank of Canada took advantage of deeper demand for fixed rate paper than floating in sterling covered bonds, issuing a five year trade on Wednesday. RBC has gathered more demand for its deal than Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which issued a floating rate deal a day before.

With stockmarket secondary trading off to a decent start in 2017, with the FTSE 100 hitting a record high, bankers are busy with a round of pitching and beauty parades that was already under way in December.

Europe’s corporate bond market has made exactly the start to 2017 that lead managers would have hoped for. RCI Banque, the French car finance bank, took the lead on the first business day, Tuesday, and although its deal was handsomely oversubscribed, it still left bankers unsure how strong investors’ appetites were.

High volumes of issuance have boosted confidence in FIG primary market conditions at the start of 2017, with bankers expecting flows to remain high until banks start going into blackout later this month.

Likely faced with an assault course of volatility inducing events this year, emerging market issuers will be keen to raise cash early before Brexit/Trump/rate rises/European elections (delete as appropriate) come to blight the market.