Germany

Issuer rating: A2/A

European borrowers that flit between public and private debt have been choosing the Schuldschein market because of its comparatively tight pricing in the last few months but this week Freenet, the German telcoms firm, sweetened the terms it was offering investors.

Tritax Big Box, the London listed industrial real estate investment trust, has sold £400m worth of 10 and 12 year US private placement notes, during the Brexit whirlwind that caused sterling bond markets to falter.

German business software company SAP used its rarity value when it printed a €1.5bn triple tranche deal in March. However, that strategy may no longer be possible, after it sold the largest ever corporate bond priced in December to help fund its recently announced €8bn cash acquisition of experience management software provider Qualtrics.

Frankfurt-based Eurex Clearing on Thursday announced that 24 firms had signed up to take advantage of its new partnership programme for repo market participants.

On Monday, the euro corporate bond market delivered its largest ever deal in December. However, on Tuesday, there was no follow-up and the dramatic fall in global equity markets has led some investors to call the end of 2018 from a new issue perspective.

Germany will head covered bond supply in 2019 with high redemptions and a booming housing market set to fuel volumes.

French postal operator La Poste saved the corporate bond market in Europe from registering a blank week when it sold its first green bond last Friday. On Wednesday, Deutsche Post followed its peer’s lead by announcing a deal with the same tenor.

UK investors that buy US private placements often struggle to compete with North American investors on price, but their disadvantage could be made worse by Brexit, if, as expected, sterling bond spreads widen.

Germany’s Rheinmetall is in talks to buy a stake in Dutch defence company KNDS, as the European defence sector tries to shelter from the fallout of Brexit.

The last posting date for Christmas tends to coincide with the closing of the euro corporate bond market. Ahead of that coincidence this year, two postal companies have sold new bonds, after Deutsche Post followed La Poste of France’s lead.

French car parts supplier Faurecia has launched a Schuldschein expected to reach a size around €400m to €500m, as attractive euro and dollar spread ranges are planted to attract a wide group of lenders.