Germany

Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) met investors this week to discuss a debut sale of additional tier one (AT1) bonds. Changes in regulation are prompting issuers to seek new deals in the asset class to optimise their capital layers.

Shares in Wirecard, the German payments firm, rose by as much as 8.2% on Monday morning after the company called in KPMG to conduct an independent review into its accounting practices. However, the exchangeable bonds issued by SoftBank to derisk its investment in the company fell further, proving little relief to equity-linked investors that bought into the deal.

German home improvement and garden supplies chain Hornbach issued €250m of senior unsecured notes on Thursday, for a coupon of just 3.25%. While the retail sector in general makes investors wary and Germany is lurching towards recession, investors showed confidence in the home improvement market.

BMW Finance returned to the Panda bond market with a Rmb3bn ($424m) dual-tranche private placement note. It was the company's third outing this year, but this time the German automaker substituted the three year tranche with a two year note.

Guarantor: Federal Republic of Germany

Investors jumped on the opportunity to buy euro bonds with a positive yield in the public sector market this week as KfW and Kommunalbanken sold 15 and 10 year bonds respectively, with the latter returning to the currency for a benchmark for the first time since 2017.

Mann+Hummel struggles in Schuldschein market amid splurge in auto trades — Bureau Veritas returns to USPP market — Seplat turns to loans for Eland buy — Endava swaps to syndicated sterling borrowing — Bravida refis revolver, eyes more buys

Europe’s equity-linked bond market has been rocked this week, this time by fresh allegations of accounting fraud against Wirecard, the German payments processing company, less than a month after SoftBank issued a €900m exchangeable bond designed to derisk its investment in the company. Aidan Gregory reports.

German agency KfW revisited the Norwegian krone market yet again on Tuesday to place its 15th trade of the year in the currency. The deal brings KfW’s Nokkie issuance up to a record Nkr17bn ($1.9bn) for the year to date, according to Dealogic, Nkr250m more than its previous 2011 record.

Three covered bond issuers took advantage of a rise in yields, following what seemed a breakthrough in Brexit negotiations, to issue transactions that would not have been well received two weeks ago. Banca Popolare dell’Alto Adige’s debut and Sparkasse Hannover’s sub-benchmark deals delivered positive returns, while demand for a slightly negative-yielding benchmark from Sparebanken Sør Boligkreditt was boosted by its green credentials.

Mann+Hummel, a veteran borrower in the Schuldschein market, struggled to place a Schuldschein, according to market sources, with participants citing ZF Friedrichshafen’s blockbuster transaction as well as the market’s over-indulgence in the auto sector this year as chief reasons.

Investors pounced on the opportunity to buy a bond with a positive yield in the euro market by KfW on Tuesday. Elsewhere, the Asian Development Bank drew strong demand to sell its biggest ever green bond in euros following its debut in 2018.