Europe

Three stellar trades last week from Russian corporates did more to prove that the Russian bond market is open for business than the much-hyped $1.75bn sovereign issue. But this was no surprise as investors had been scrambling to get their hands on Russian corporate debt for two years.

Castellum, the Swedish property company, has completed its Skr6.3bn ($758m) rights issue, to partly finance its Skr13.4bn purchase of Norrporten.

Time Out Group, the UK magazine publisher owned by Oakley Capital, had a disappointing first day of trading on London’s Aim on Tuesday, closing down 7% from its IPO price of 150p a share.

An auction this month to settle 2014-form credit default swaps referencing Norske Skog will comprise separate auctions for all four maturity buckets, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s EMEA Determinations Committee (DC) has confirmed, but 2003 updated contracts will only be settled in the shortest dated of these auctions.

Bonava, the Swedish housing developer, has obtained a Skr2.7bn ($325m) loan that backs its listing on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange.

An discussion paper commissioned by the German central bank suggests that covered bonds can improve a bank’s profitability, but by encumbering assets, risk is asymmetrically shifted to unsecured debt holders resulting in greater fragility.

Sponda, the Finnish property developer, has signed €600m of unsecured five year syndicated loans to refinance maturing facilities.

Evonik Industries, the German chemical company, has completed €1.9bn of loan facilities with banks to fund its acquisition of a division of Air Products and Chemicals.

The French public sector covered bond issuer returned to the market for the fourth time this year to raise €1bn, with the 0.375% coupon being the lowest ever for a Obligation Foncière due 2025. The transaction was heavily reliant on central bank demand and underperformed after becoming free to trade.

A new poll on the UK referendum on EU membership published on Monday intensified fears of a Brexit, sending FIG spreads across the capital structure wider on Tuesday.

Sberbank CIB, the corporate and investment banking business of Sberbank, has appointed a new head of its global markets department.

Bulgarian Telecommunications (Vivacom) has received the necessary waivers from bondholders to allow its proposed acquisition by a consortium of investors, following a bridge loan default last year that triggered a forced sale of the company.