Europe

Shares in Cellink, the Swedish maker of 3D printing equipment for the life sciences industry, rose more than 4% on Thursday morning after the company completed a Skr946m ($109.2m) growth capital raising, amid strong investor appetite for exposure to the healthcare sector due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Newly released data compiled by the European Covered Bond Council (ECBC) underscores the robust growth of the covered bond market, with volumes rising to €2.7tr globally over 34 countries. Volumes will have exploded again this year due to the scale of retained issuance that’s been used for central bank funding.

Abundance Investment, the UK retail investment platform, is introducing a new way for local governments to crowdfund environmental projects. The councils of West Berkshire, Warrington and Leeds are set to be the first to make use of the scheme.

A surge in repo-eligible issuance and deteriorating credit outlook for the retail and hotel commercial mortgage segments that secure some cover pools has pummelled the Pfandbrief market. This has been compounded by a lack of transparency leading to "an uneasy feeling" and ‘some uncertainty’ said bankers.

Analysts at Société Générale say that bank credit spreads have plenty of room left to tighten in 2020, especially as supply volumes fall in the second half of the year.

National champions have outpaced their smaller peers in the rally in bank bond spreads over recent months. Investors say individual valuations in the middle tier of the sector could pick up, but that the chances of consolidation may first have to improve.

Valeo Foods, the Irish food producer behind brands such as Jacob’s Cream Crackers and Rowse’s Honey, has closed an amendment and extension deal for its euro and sterling leveraged loans.

The UK Municipal Bonds Agency is in the market with a £250m no-grow 40 year bond on behalf of Lancashire County Council. Initial price thoughts indicate the yield will be substantially below the rate charged by the government's Public Works Loans Board — the usual source of finance for councils.

German electricity company RWE has sold €2bn of stock to fund its long term ambition to grow its renewable energy capacity, via one of the largest block trades this year.

Environmental, social and governance investors are taking an interest in companies' supply chains at last. It is important they do this in a sophisticated way and think deeply about the potential repercussions. Getting supply chains wrong could have devastating consequences.

German drug packaging manufacturer Gerresheimer launched a Schuldschein on Tuesday, according to market sources, ahead of €190m of debt maturing this November.

KfW opened up a window for 10 year dollar bonds in the public sector market on Tuesday amid a rise in long-dated US Treasury yields with two more borrowers hoping to find similar success in the tenor on Wednesday.