Europe

Coventry Building Society was unable to tighten its pricing for a new senior bond in the sterling market on Monday, as UK credit spreads widened on the back of the latest Brexit developments.

Munich Re and Unipol Group are lining up new green bond transactions for this week, as they look to replicate the success of similar deals and gain a ‘pricing advantage’ in the market.

The Republic of Bulgaria has mandated banks to arrange a dual tranche bond in euros, making it the latest sovereign to add to the swelling supply from the central and eastern European (CEE) region.

Caffil returned to the covered bond market on Monday to issue its fourth trade this year. Despite being its biggest deal in well over two years, it was well subscribed and was priced slightly inside fair value, implying that stretched valuations still have scope to tighten. At the same time UniCredit Austria mandated leads for a 15 year deal.

Allegro, the Polish e-commerce company, launched its long-awaited Warsaw IPO on Monday. The transaction could be one of the largest of the year, according to sources close to the deal.

Goldman Sachs has appointed Christopher Droege and Chris Emmerson as co-heads of cross markets and sponsor M&A for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Epic Suisse, the Swiss real estate company, has unveiled plans for an IPO on the SIX Swiss Exchange to raise capital to fund future development projects and repay debt.

Spain is looking to follow hot on the heels of the soaring demand Italy attracted this week with its own syndicated bond which could come as soon as next week in what is likely to be a busy one for new issues ahead of the European Union’s re-entry as a jumbo borrower, according to SSA bankers.

This week in Keeping Tabs: the state of EU capital markets and whether good government matters, a profile of Mairead McGuinness, and Adam Tooze on central banks.

Hungary returned to the Samurai market after a two year absence on Friday to sell the first ever sovereign green bond in the market, which formed part of its ¥62.7bn (€500m) four tranche deal, which the sovereign used to extend its debt curve while also introducing a new investor base to the credit.

Ignitis Grupe, the state-owned Lithuanian energy and utility company, has begun marketing its IPO and is hoping that interest from investors concerned with environmental, social and governance [ESG] factors will lead to a higher valuation.

Nationwide Building Society said this week that it was looking to reduce the size of 11 of its euro and sterling covered bonds through a tender offer, in an effort to optimise its funding and liquidity position.