Germany

Volkswagen surprised the equity capital markets on Friday by setting a range on the IPO of its trucks division, Traton, a few days earlier than most in the market had expected. But the deal has already gained strong investor interest.

A structure developed in the loan market, in which a company’s financing margin can be lowered during the life of the deal if it improves its environmental, social and governance credentials, has crossed over into the Schuldschein market. That raises the possibility it could make the leap to the bond market, write Silas Brown and Jon Hay.

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Bond market alpha types may find it galling when the fusty old loan market can teach them an innovative new structure. And yet, that may be about to happen.

BNP Paribas has hired a banker from SMBC to fill the vacant position of head of US private placements.

Three SSA borrowers issued a total of £200m ($255m) of medium-term notes in response to an inquiry for three year non-call one fixed rate sterling bonds on Tuesday — which probably all sold to the same buyer — amid an uptick of paper in the currency.

Commerzbank, Jyske Bank and UBI Banca all issued €500m senior non-preferred bonds with five year maturities on Thursday. But Jyske opted for a more flexible and efficient note, callable four years after its issuance date.

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.