Europe

French engineering company Vallourec has unveiled plans for a €300m rights issue to help return its balance sheet to a sustainable footing, following a recovery in the oil industry after the slump in demand caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The French Community of Belgium (LCFB) sold its first social bond under its new social finance framework on Wednesday.

Aegon Bank paid special attention to timing when pricing its first soft bullet covered bond, reflecting challenging market conditions, according to the bank's head of capital market solutions, Lein Pieter Cevaal.

Bouygues, the French industrial group, sold its final large block trade in Alstom on Tuesday night in an effective clean-up. Investors jumped at the last chance they had to buy shares in the French rail company from Bouygues.

Dometic Group, the Swedish maker of appliances for boats and camper vans, has successfully completed a Skr3.35bn (€331m) M&A financing.

The banks that ran the €1.6bn IPO of AUTO1, the online car selling marketplace, waived a lock-up agreement on Tuesday night to allow a group of pre-IPO shareholders to sell a 4.6% stake in the company. The trade could have been controversial given there remains some debate about early lock-up waivers but it was warmly received by investors.

Turkey’s credit metrics took another hit this week after contradictory statements on interest rates from president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and central bank governor Şahap Kavcıoğlu. Market participants said the environment for foreign investors is rocky, and any new sovereign Eurobond would have to offer a "big premium".

The European Union has announced the initial borrowing plan for its Next Generation EU (NGEU) programme in 2021, with the first deal set to arrive later this month.

Commodities brokerage Marex Group has opened the books on its £100m plus IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

The skittish state of investor demand that was recently on display in covered bonds may herald a reassessment of credit, particularly as spreads are back to pre-pandemic levels and seemingly have limited potential for further performance.

The UK will issue its first green Gilt via syndication in September, with consultations to be held during the summer to determine the market’s preferred maturity for the bond.

Bank of Montreal attracted good demand for a €1.25bn eight year covered bond on Tuesday and paid a modest new issue concession. The outcome was deemed a fine result given that market conditions are not at their best.