Europe

Despite the disruption that the coronavirus pandemic and, more recently, volatility in global markets have brought to emerging market debt, issuers in the CEEMEA region are not backing away from their pivot towards ESG financing. Though concerns about greenwashing are holding the market back, new sustainability-linked and transition structures are tempting issuers.

Piraeus Bank is hoping to raise €600m of additional tier one capital as part of a set of actions aimed at strengthening its balance sheet. This week’s announcement comes a few months after the Greek lender had to convert €2bn of government-held contingent convertibles into equity.

German state-owned development bank Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW) made a rare public green outing in the offshore renminbi market this week, raising Rmb1.25bn ($192m) from a deal that saw strong participation from green and ESG investors.

Crédit Agricole has sealed its third senior preferred Panda bond in the China market on a particularly challenging day that caused eight domestic deals to be postponed, amid lingering default concerns and rising government bond yields. Addison Gong reports.

Embracer Group, the Swedish video games developer, has placed Skr7.6bn ($900m) of new shares with investors to finance its ongoing growth.

Russian hypermarket and grocery store chain Lenta is considering a share sale to boost the freefloat of its stock and raise capital to finance acquisitions.

It was a long time coming, but Greece finally completed its curve with a 30 year bond on Wednesday. This was its first in the tenor since before the global financial crisis. The bond was a success, despite a choppy backdrop.

Three of Neoen’s major shareholders have completed a tail swallow ahead of the French renewable energy company’s €600m rights issue, which was announced on Tuesday.

SSP, the UK food outlet operator, launched a £475m rights issue on Wednesday to strengthen its balance sheet in order to put itself in the best position for the reopening of its businesses this summer when the UK hopes to come out of lockdown.

The number of primary dealerships for the European government bond market continues to fall, with 15 sovereigns now having their lowest number of primary dealerships on record, according to the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME).

Všeobecná úverova banka (VUB) issued a €500m five year covered bond on Wednesday at the tightest spread for any issuer from Slovakia. At the same time the Mortgage Society of Finland issued a sub-benchmark sized 10 year at close to fair value. The resounding outcomes for both deals partly reflected the generous spreads on offer. At the same time OP Mortgage Bank has announced plans to issue its debut green covered bond.

Club Brugge, the Belgian football club, has begun bookbuilding for its IPO on Euronext Brussels, having fixed the price range at €17.50 to €22.50 a share.