Germany

Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (PBB) eschewed cheap four year financing provided by the European Central Bank (ECB) under its long term refinancing facility to issue a 4.5 year Pfandbrief on Wednesday. The short and rarely issued tenor was easily absorbed and offered almost 52bp more than Bunds, in contrast to a French covered bond issued on Tuesday.

Tonight’s hail of block trades includes, besides the Lonza and Zoopla deals, at least two other transactions.

Shares in TLG Immobilien, the German real estate company, fell 1.6% on Tuesday morning after it completed a 10% capital increase on Monday night to finance the acquisition of more retail and office properties in Germany.

The State of North Rhine-Westphalia announced on Monday that it will hold a roadshow for its third sustainability bond.

A few of Europe's smaller borrowers are trying their luck now that the storm of issuance that thronged markets through most of January has abated.

uarantor: Federal State of Baden-Wuerttemberg

The dollar bond market for public sector borrowers this week rounded off a spectacular January, with many bankers describing it as “perfect” and the best in five years.

Rating: Baa1/BBB+/BBB+

AlzChem, the German speciality chemicals maker, has set the terms for the first Frankfurt IPO of 2017.

A trio of issuers brought deals across the short end of the dollar curve on Wednesday, adding to what one SSA syndicate head described as the “ideal January”. Supply looks to have dimmed for now, with no deals on screen for Thursday and Chinese New Year holidays next week likely to halt benchmark issuance, but bankers believe conditions are so hot that arbitrage deals or floating rate notes could still break through.

LBBW has priced the largest Pfandbrief in dollars since October 2013 with a comfortably oversubscribed order book, one of the most granular in years for a German covered bond in dollars.

With the euro primary market to itself, Germany’s largest telecommunications provider announced a €3.5bn triple tranche bond deal on Monday morning, luring investors to the long end of its offering.