Europe

The International Development Agency sold a sterling benchmark on Wednesday, raising £1bn with its second benchmark in the currency.

Portugal was awash with demand as it came to the market on Wednesday for a new 30 year euro benchmark, following well-received syndicated deals from Belgium and Finland on Tuesday.

Agence France Locale, the funding agency for French local authorities, is gearing up for its busiest ever year in the capital markets with plans to issue a structured private placement and follow up January’s deal with a second euro benchmark this year.

Great Point Entertainment Income Trust, a UK investment trust engaged in film financing, launched a £200m ($273.54m) IPO on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

Cellnex, the Spanish telecoms infrastructure company, has returned to the equity capital markets with a huge €7bn rights issue to finance its acquisition of French competitor Hivory from Altice and KKR.

Nomura said that net revenues in its investment banking business for the last three months of 2020 were the highest in nine years. Yet while it was a good quarter overall for the firm's wholesale business, revenue fell year on year in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Aareal Bank issued the longest dollar Pfandbrief benchmark from a German issuer since 2016 flat to fair value and in good size on Wednesday. The transaction provided a statement of confidence in the credit, following its recent profit warning.

Companies with high carbon emissions are preparing for the risk that they could have to pay more to access capital markets, if investors and banks retreat from fossil fuel-heavy businesses, and even divest altogether — as Aviva has threatened to do. Some issuers will use investor relations drives and labelled financings, but ultimately they will have to find common ground with investors on how to transition to low carbon.

BayernLB was able to close the books on its debut green bond after only three hours on Wednesday, as investors piled into the tightly priced transaction.

The possibility that former ECB chief Mario Draghi may become the next Italian prime minister has caused excitement among bond market participants and a sharp rally in risky assets.

Throughout these uncertain times, UniCredit is providing a point of reference for the CEE, thanks to our strong commitment to supporting clients and the region.

UniCredit’s Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) division was aware of the threat of Covid-19 early on, and took decisive measures to mitigate its impact.