Europe

Emerging market portfolio managers say that their confidence in buying assets has been restored now that US Treasury yields have stopped racing upwards. But although they say they have cash to splash, some still believe valuations are toppy.

This week, Antares Vision, the Italian technology company, has completed a large share sale on the Italian stock exchange which will act as a re-IPO.

The IPO of Pepco, the retail conglomerate, is due to be priced at Z40, valuing the company at Z23bn (€5.07bn) when it begins trading on the Warsaw Stock Exchange later this month.

Permanent TSB added to a recent run of Irish bank supply on Wednesday, tapping into strong investor demand with a new tier two in the euro market.

Safestore, the UK listed self-storage company, has issued £150m-equivalent of US private placement debt.

The current of interest in sustainability-linked finance entered a new district of the capital markets this week — private equity funds-of-funds. AlpInvest Partners, one of the biggest managers in the market, has signed a $650m facility tied to its environmental, social and governance investment practices. But the deal raises the question of the role of transparency in such financings.

Public sector borrowers should be careful what they wish for. Those looking to follow the European Union’s lead in lowering the underwriting fees they pay to banks could cause an unwelcome distortion to their market at a time when getting funding through the door with minimal drama is perhaps more crucial than ever.

The European Central Bank is struggling to maintain its exposure to peripheral European covered bonds this year, due to falling issuance, and has therefore increased its exposure to core European markets. This trend is set to continue, as supply will remain muted — even though banks are running out of eligible collateral to pledge for repo funding.

French telecoms firm Iliad is looking for at least €300m from the Schuldschein market, and is trialing an innovative tenor extension in one of its tranches.

A flurry of dollar issuance hit the market on Tuesday, covering a wide range of spreads and formats.

The European Investment Bank failed to impress market participants on Tuesday with an order book far smaller in size than usual for an Earn benchmark and no move in the spread after guidance.

Germany sold a 30 year green bond via syndication on Tuesday, pricing the trade 2bp through its conventional twin bond of the same maturity and coupon.