Germany

On Wednesday, Aroundtown took advantage of the current very favourable conditions in the sterling market. The Germany-focused property company’s debut issue in the currency took to four the number of different currencies the issuer has sold bonds in during 2017.

Buoyed by low volatility, record high share prices, and a risk-on attitude among investors, Europe’s booming market for IPOs gained three more deals on Tuesday when Bakkavor, HelloFresh and M7 Multi-Let Reit all announced their intentions to float.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the German State of North Rhein-Westphalia (Land NRW) have picked banks for dollar benchmarks expected to hit the market on Wednesday.

Dominik Felsmann has landed a job at ABN Amro as head of leveraged finance Germany. The bank has also named Arjan Van Rijn as global head of leveraged finance origination.

FMS Wertmanagement has announced that it will come to market for a sterling bond on Tuesday, hoping to follow Export Development Canada’s success last week.

On Monday, Statnett, the Norwegian state electricity grid company, mandated banks for its debut benchmark bond issue in euros. This followed German power utility RWE announcing the results of its recent tender offer on Friday.

Befesa, the Spanish metals recycling group, has joined the queue of companies going public in Europe this autumn, having announced its intention to float on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The few hybrid deals that have been printed in 2017 have seen overwhelming demand amid the current low rate environment. A €300m deal from German agriculture servicing company BayWa on Wednesday was no different, even if some of the bond’s features were more unusual.

German filter maker Mann+Hummel has joined the flock of borrowers issuing green Schuldscheine, raising €400m with a multitranche deal that closed on Wednesday.

Siemens, the German engineering group, sold nearly all its stake in Osram Licht, the Munich-based lighting company it span off in 2013, via an accelerated bookbuild led by Citigroup and Deutsche Bank on Wednesday night.

Shares in Hapag-Lloyd, the German container shipping line, are holding up well as the subscription period for its €352m rights issue begins.

KfW has sold Europe’s first blockchain-based bond, although a quirk of German law meant the transaction had to be replicated on paper. While the bond was instantly settled, those involved say a crucial component is missing if this technology is to become part of capital markets’ infrastructure: a cash settlement facility on a distributed ledger.