Europe

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.

While the autumn funding season is well under way for public sector borrowers in dollars, the euro market has yet to officially reopen. However, that could change next week, with a stampede of issuers ready to return in the currency ahead of the arrival of the European Union’s giant funding programme, according to bankers.

The European Commission has reached out to the European Covered Bond Council (ECBC) to make the case for reinvigorating the market for European Secured Notes. ESNs could improve access to crucial funding for Europe’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are struggling to recover following lockdowns imposed to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Santander UK has been quick to price a new deal in the US dollar market after its results, making a saving over the funding levels on offer in euros or sterling.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management has introduced an open-ended equity fund concentrating on high quality companies in emerging market economies.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (Eiopa) has told market participants to watch out for ‘further deterioration’ in solvency capital ratios, as insurers grapple with declining asset quality during the coronavirus pandemic.