Germany

Sean Tai has left Debtdomain, the company he founded, to start a new venture, according to several sources with knowledge of the situation. Debtdomain is still willing to take on the challenge posed by new digital platforms in the Schuldschein market, according to Tai’s replacement as global head of business development.

Schuldschein lenders are getting their first taste of environmental social governance (ESG) interest-linked notes next week, as Dürr takes its final orders on a transaction linked to its sustainability performance. According to several participants the trade has so far gone well, and will likely spark further Schuldschein borrowers using this new structure.

The spin-off of Traton, the trucks division of Volkswagen, has been relaunched after the IPO was postponed earlier this year due to volatility caused by the trade tensions between the US and China. Traton may not excite many growth investors, but it is a rock solid German industrial asset that isn’t trying to persuade investors it is anything else, unlike a string of recent flotations in the US and Europe.

Europe’s most prominent IPO, the Frankfurt listing of Volkswagen’s truck unit Traton, has been on the road for a week and sources have expressed confidence in the deal’s viability.

A new section of the Schuldschein market is emerging, thanks to a virtuous circle. Property companies, until recently largely absent from the market, have begun to issue Schuldscheine, and these are attracting insurance companies, which rarely invest in the product because yields are too low.

Traton, Volkswagen’s heavy trucks division, is back on the market. The German auto giant relaunched the IPO after it was postponed in March owing to market volatility caused by trade tensions between the US and China. The deal is a key event for the equity capital markets in what has been a tricky year. It is important for those involved and for the wider market that it goes well. Yet conditions are not much better now, particularly for auto stocks, raising questions among investors about Traton’s timing, writes Aidan Gregory.

Guarantor: Federal Republic of Germany

Activity in the FIG sector in Swiss francs shifted from the international to the domestic market this week, with a little over Sfr850m ($857m) of new supply priced on Tuesday alone.

KfW returned to the market on Wednesday for its second five year euro benchmark of the year. The €5bn 0% July 2024 note was issued with the lowest yield the German agency has ever paid.

Investment firm Triton Partners has sold the remainder of its shares in in Befesa, the German metal recycling firm, in a popular €216m block trade.

KfW returned to the market for its second five year euro benchmark of the year. The €5bn zero coupon note was issued with the lowest yield ever printed by the German issuer.

Schuldschein arrangers have been telling prospective borrowers to make spread ranges more attractive for lenders, if they would like the full attention of the market. With over 20 deals in the market, smaller lenders have to choose which credits to work on, often at first glance — and will be far more likely to ignore any borrower that does not offer good margins.