Europe

Syngenta, the agricultural chemical and seed company, returned to the Swiss franc market this week for its second Swissie bond of the year — a blowout three year deal that surpassed the market’s expectations.

Bank Nederlandse Gementeen kicked off a busy week for socially responsible bond issuance by public sector borrowers with a well-received 12 year sustainable bond, its longest ever deal in that format.

The proposed European Distribution of Debt Instruments (EDDI) project as a one-stop synchronised front to back office platform for the eurozone bond markets is unlikely to come to fruition, with the focus now centred on a far different proposition, according to senior members of a market forum spearheading the talks.

Barclays has reshuffled management of its corporate and investment bank, making Paul Compton global head of banking and CS Venkatakrishnan global head of markets.

The City of Bremen was heavily undersubscribed as it came to the market with an eight year bond on Thursday, in what is the region’s second consecutive public deal that has failed to reach full subscription.

Domestic bank consolidation has returned to the top of the agenda, but for financial institutions bankers, unlocking the most lucrative relationships requires years of coverage and an ability to look beyond the quick fix of M&A, writes David Rothnie.

DNB Boligkreditt on Thursday issued its first euro covered bond since January 2019 in large size, pricing inside its own curve — once again underscoring the strong technical backdrop to the market.

Caixabank’s attracted exceptionally strong demand for its additional tier one (AT1) transaction on Thursday, which was set to be priced flat to fair value. The deal suggested a clear vote of confidence in the credit, following its recent merger, and underscored investors’ unremitting search for bonds that offer a juicy yield.

Hungarian oil and gas company Mol on Thursday raised a seven year bond in euros.

Rolls-Royce, the UK aerospace engineering company, has confirmed it aims to raise £5bn from a financing package that includes a £2bn rights issue. The deal’s launch ends months of speculation about whether the company would need to raise capital to endure the Covid-19 pandemic.

National Bank of Greece (NBG) has become the lowest rated bank to issue green debt, after winning two times as much demand as it needed for a €500m senior bond on Thursday. The trade formed part of a flurry of green issuance in the FIG market, alongside new deals from Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel and Mizuho Financial Group.

Schuldschein lenders are gearing up for a wave of borrowers to tap the market this month, looking to capitalise on mounting piles of investor cash.