Germany

German chemicals company BASF found substantial demand for its second visit to the corporate bond market to fund its acquisition of Bayer’s seed business.

The first two days of this week saw more than €10bn of bond issuance, with more than a quarter of that volume made up of three deals sold by auto finance issuers. All three deals managed to achieve new issue premiums of 10bp or less, which was tighter than the majority of deals the week before.

German media company Bertelsmann pulled a €500m seven year corporate bond issue on Thursday as the market showed signs of indigestion after what was already one of the busiest weeks of the year for corporate issuance.

Hermes has launched a European direct lending fund, as the investment manager looks to carve out part of a market that has recently reached record highs by volume.

A pair of euro borrowers hit screens at the short end of the euro curve on Thursday, but both failed to reach full subscription.

A block in HelloFresh, the German meal kit delivery company, sold quickly after market close on Wednesday night, with investors already enjoying a 9% rise in the stock price.

When the euro corporate market attempted to return to full speed after a pause on Wednesday, investors were given a tough choice between three triple-B rated issuers all selling seven year bonds and another selling a sub-benchmark five year tranche. The result was a bad one for issuers.

German media company Bertelsmann pulled a €500m seven year corporate bond issue on Thursday, just hours after launching the deal alongside two other seven year deals.

The chairman of Deutsche Börse, Joachim Faber, on Wednesday said he would leave his post after a transition period before serving his full three-year term.

Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (PBB), which completed its second euro benchmark Pfandbrief of the year this week, is expected to consider issuance in dollars or sterling, as are other German issuers that have big foreign currency assets.

The advisory arm of Hermes Investment Management fired both barrels at Deutsche Börse chairman Joachim Faber on Tuesday, partially blaming him for the implosion of the proposed merger with the London Stock Exchange Group in 2016

Schuldschein issuance this year will be much lower than in 2017, Moody’s analysts have predicted. Their view echoes those of two German Landesbanks. But although there is a creeping consensus in the market of an impending fall, participants are no closer to agreeing why.