Germany

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and NordLB have signalled their intention to exploit exceptionally strong covered bond market conditions and open order books for transactions on Thursday.

Deutsche Apotheker und Aerztebank (Deutsche Apo) issued the tightest German 10 year Pfandbrief of the year on Wednesday at a level that was probably through interpolated fair value.

Varta AG, the German maker of micro-batteries for hearing aids and wireless headphones, has resurrected its plans for an IPO, after posting record earnings in the first half of 2017.

Deutsche Wohnen, one of the biggest listed German residential property companies, added its name to the string of equity-linked deals in Europe this month on Tuesday when it printed an €800m eight year note to finance a tender offer for a previous convertible bond, due in 2021.

ThyssenKrupp, the German steel company, raised €1.37bn of fresh equity on Monday night, in one of the largest primary accelerated bookbuilds of the year so far in EMEA.

Aareal Bank managed to attract orders of more than £550m for its £250m Pfandbrief, reflecting the fact that the bonds offer tremendous value relative to senior unsecured and corporate debt. The deal followed a tap of similar size issued by Swedbank.

Tuesday proved to be hybrid day in the European corporate bond markets with Aroundtown tapping its dollar hybrid bond for €200m while German electric utility, RWE, announced it was tendering for up to €550m equivalent of its own equity-like debt.

Münchener Hypothekenbank made its public Swiss franc bond market debut, raising Sfr160m ($164.8m) with a December 2024 bond this week. But, with few German financial institutions with natural franc needs, the possibilities of follow-on trades are few and far between.

KfW has entered the Blockchain race, after simulating a trade in real time using distributed ledger technology, the agency said on Monday.

Volkswagen Leasing brought its second euro corporate bond deal of 2017 on Monday. The €2.25bn dual tranche offering took Volkswagen’s total issuance this year to €17.25bn. This is more than twice as much as General Electric, the next highest issuer by volume.

A slightly more hawkish than expected US Federal Open Market Committee meeting mid-week has nudged up US Treasury yields — bringing 10 year dollar issuance nearly within SSAs’ reach, said bankers. But in the meantime, SSA bankers are looking at the dollar pipeline with dismay.

In September, a number of issuers have returned to the European corporate bond markets after a number of years without issuing. On Wednesday, German chemicals distributor Brenntag, Australian property company Goodman and Austrian steel company Voestalpine were the latest to join that list.