Europe

Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten scored a 10 year dollar benchmark bond on Wednesday — its first at the tenor for four years. A fellow European issuer hit the short end of the dollar curve.

France received its biggest ever order book as it came to the market for a 20 year syndication on Tuesday. SSA bankers say that investors are looking for duration after previously sticking to defensive maturities as the Covid-19 crisis eases.

Citi was the sole bookrunner and underwriter on a Sfr2.55bn block trade in Sika, the Swiss chemicals company, sold by Saint-Gobain on Tuesday night — but the deal was not covered.

The European Central Bank said this week that Covid-19 could hamper some banks from meeting their targets for the minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL), given the likelihood of credit rating downgrades and dislocation in the funding markets.

Investors welcomed a €781m trade in Italian payments firm Nexi on Tuesday evening after three of the sellers from the firm’s IPO took advantage of a recent rally in the share price to cut some of their stake.

The stream of French covered bond deals was interrupted on Wednesday when KBC Bank returned to the market for the first time in more than two years to issue a long five year, priced slightly inside its own curve. The oversubscribed order book, reflected investor anxiety about the supply drought.

Equities and investment-grade bonds are overpriced in developed markets, according to Tommy Garvey, member of the asset allocation team at GMO. The US-based investment firm has just slashed its exposure to developed equity markets.

Aviva was set to raise £500m of tier two capital on Wednesday, fuelling speculation that the UK insurer would be looking to call one of its outstanding perpetual bonds.

Infineon, the German manufacturer of semiconductors, has completed a €1bn capital raise to partially refinance its acquisition of Cypress Semiconductor Corporation. The deal demonstrated investor willingness to put capital to work in strategic equity raises that look beyond funding needs of the coronavirus crisis.

European emerging market names have bulked up deal flow during the Covid-19 crisis and The Republic of North Macedonia continued that trend on Wednesday with a six year euro benchmark deal.

BBVA on Wednesday became the first European financial institution to launch a bond in the euro market to tackle Covid-19, unravelling the appetite for these type of bonds while undergoing a refinancing exercise.

RAG Stiftung has sold half of its stake in Stadler Rail, the train manufacturing company that floated on the SIX Swiss Exchange last year.