Germany

Guarantor: Financial Market Stabilisation Fund of the Federal Republic of Germany

Two high quality euro borrowers printed what may be among their last benchmarks of the year this week, squeezing new issue premiums flat to the curve as investors filled their boots.

The equity blocks market extended a busy run this week, with a Bayer trade in Covestro on Tuesday night, and the second sell-down of shares in Ahlsell by CVC since its IPO in October last year.

Bayer, the German life sciences company, took one more step towards full separation from Covestro, the plastics company it span off in 2015, when it launched another block trade on Tuesday night for around €1.2bn of the company.

Austria has become the first eurozone sovereign to syndicate a 100 year bond, selling €3.5bn to investors desperate to pile cash into ultra-long paper.

Synlab, the French clinical services provider, achieved tight pricing on Tuesday for its leveraged loan. That bodes well for a September deal pipeline that has swelled to over €5bn. But bankers cautioned small deals may still have to fight for investor attention against large offerings like Stada’s €2bn loan.

Kaufland, the German supermarket chain owned by Schwarz Gruppe, tripled its Schuldschein to over €900m, as the firm joins the ranks of German blue chips pushing the Schuldschein market's size to €100bn.

Austria’s Hypo Vorarlberg made its first entry into the green bond market this week, clearing the path for future deals by not squeezing the price.

Paragon, the German car parts company, is preparing to float Voltabox, its subsidiary that produces lithium ion batteries, through an IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Deutsche Kreditbank (DKB) is preparing to sell a new green senior bond this week, as the pool of European banks involved with format expands.

Sherwin-Williams, the US paint and coatings maker, has issued its debut Schuldschein for €245m. It is the first US company to come to the market this year.

The Schuldschein market is booming, despite the credit setbacks it has suffered this year from struggling borrowers.