Europe

Audax Renovables, the Spanish renewable electricity producer, has become the latest European issuer to issue a green convertible bond, raising €125m.

A €200m share placing in Fluidra, the Spanish swimming pool equipment company, caught investors in a buoyant mood on Wednesday evening, with bookrunners having to enlarge the deal to satisfy demand.

Sustainability-linked pricing has arrived in the equity capital markets. This is no bad thing.

The People’s Republic of China returned to the European market on Wednesday, part of its plan to make euro bond outings an annual exercise. The €4bn transaction was a blow-out, with the order book well oversubscribed — and one of the three tranches achieving the sovereign’s first negative yield. Morgan Davis reports.

The banking landscape in Spain and the UK is set to change, amid pressure on banks' profitability, after a flurry of announcements this week.

Metso Outotec, the Finnish mining equipment maker, and UK warehouse Reit Tritax Big Box have mandated for corporate bond issues, as the euphoria in the high grade market shows little sign of waning.

The European Union received strong demand as it tapped a June 2035 line on Wednesday to finance loan disbursements under its Covid-19 Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) programme.

Croda, the UK chemicals company, has closed the books on a £608m ($807m) equity raise to help fund the purchase of Iberchem, the Spanish fragrance manufacturer.

Frankfurt-listed online fashion retailer Global Fashion Group has placed €120m of stock to fund future growth during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the trend of more consumers shopping online.

Deutsche Börse has beefed up its offering in sustainable finance and corporate governance services through purchasing a majority stake in ISS, the ESG data and analytics provider.

Oma Savings Bank attracted exceptionally strong demand for its sub-benchmark covered bond on Wednesday, thanks to the double digit spread pickup it paid compared to deals from compatriot Finnish national champions. Caffil, meanwhile, recently issued an ultra-long private placement and said it plans to print further out the curve.

Symon Drake-Brockman, the founder and managing partner of European direct lender Pemberton Asset Management, thinks that the US direct lending market has matured to such an extent that further growth is tricky, whereas Europe still has fruitful opportunities ahead.