Europe

The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) took advantage of a strong market on Wednesday to issue its first ever benchmark transaction for pre-funding purposes.

The European Commission has unveiled bold plans to promote the renovation of existing housing stock in a bid to improve energy efficiency and so cut EU’s carbon footprint and provide a much-needed stimulus to the economy. At the same time, the European Covered Bond Council is implementing its energy efficient mortgage plan that aims to improve the supply of collateral securing green covered bond issuance.

German technology company Körber has entered the Schuldschein market, on the hunt for at least €200m. This figure could rise with additional demand.

Despite a year of turmoil, many bankers have a spring in their step, writes David Rothnie. They are rushing to get involved in the boom in special purpose acquisition companies (Spacs).

Samolet, the Russian real estate company, has launched the first leg of a two stage listing on the Moscow stock exchange, hoping to take advantage of a surge in demand from local retail investors this year.

After an extensive marketing period, done with the intention of issuing a benchmark sized deal, Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall’s first Pfandbrief, issued on Thursday, attracted more demand, at a tighter spread and a longer duration than a Pfandbrief its compatriot building society, Wüstenrot Bausparkasse, issued this week.

Synairgen, the UK biopharmaceuticals company, has raised £80m from investors to fund the next stage of clinical trials for a treatment designed to alleviate the respiratory symptoms of Covid-19.

The Republic of Austria picked banks to lead a new 20 year euro benchmark on Wednesday, while the European Stability Mechanism surprised some market participants by sounding out banks for a deal next week, which could clash with the EU’s grand arrival as a supersized issuer.

Triton has closed a €744m private debt fund, Triton Debt Opportunities II (TDO II), focused on Northern Europe’s mid-market.

Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall (BSH) mandated leads for its debut covered bond on Wednesday. The benchmark sized deal will take advantage of the strong demand seen for Tuesday’s Pfandbrief from German building society peer, Wüstenrot Bausparkasse.

UniCredit has picked Pier Carlo Padoan as chairman designate.

Aedifica, the Belgian healthcare real estate investment company, which owns a portfolio of care homes, has launched a €459m rights issue to fund an acquisition and to grow its development pipeline. Sources close to the deal are confident that the cash call will be popular given investor demand for exposure to speciality real estate businesses.