Germany

BMW and Daimler reopened Europe's corporate bond market on Thursday in emphatic style, reminiscent of the market's usual reopenings after Christmas, when car companies often take the lead. Such a clear and classical restart to issuance, this early in August, is unusual.

Deutsche Bank opened books on its first ever preferred senior deal on Thursday, joining Berlin Hyp and Commerzbank in christening the product this week.

The Federal State of Berlin’s new 20 year bond on Tuesday was almost three times oversubscribed, as investors took advantage of the hefty pick up over Bunds.

Commerzbank was offering enough of a spread for its debut preferred senior deal to be able to tap into a deep pool of pent-up demand in the euro market on Tuesday.

Credit Suisse has appointed a new head of its equity-linked debt business in EMEA, following Frank Heitmann’s move to a senior investment banking coverage role.

Eika Boligkreditt was more than twice subscribed for its no-grow deal on Tuesday, offering German investors a decent pick-up over both Bunds and Aareal Bank, which also came to the market.

Shares in Senvion, the German maker of wind turbines, are down 5% since the company raised €62.5m via an accelerated bookbuild last week. But the disappointing aftermarket performance is idiosyncratic to the stock, according to a source close to the trade, rather than a symptom of deteriorating sentiment in the blocks market.

Eika Boligkreditt and Aareal Bank are expected to reopen the covered bond market on Tuesday, after announcing post-summer holiday mandates on Monday. Both are looking to complete seven year deals.

German issuers have wasted little time in selling preferred senior debt, after regaining access to the funding product through a legislative change last month. Berlin Hyp reopened the market with a tightly priced but thinly subscribed deal on Monday, and Commerzbank is looking to follow close behind with a debut offering of its own.

Berlin Hyp is set to become the first German bank to sell a preferred senior bond after issuers regained their access to the funding tool through recent legislative changes.

UK and Irish building materials group Grafton has raised €160m in a dual tranche US private placement (US PP) transaction.

Concerns over the upcoming budget from Italy’s populist government — as well as the months’ long economic crisis in Turkey — took its toll on government bond yields in the eurozone periphery this week. But a hunt for safe assets among investors did play into the hands of top tier credits.