Germany

FMS Wertmanagement has launched two separate tender offers on the Irish Stock Exchange for euro, Swiss franc, US and Canadian dollar denominated covered bonds issued by Depfa Bank and Depfa Pfandbrief Bank SA.

Biotechnology Research And Information Network, the German biotech business, has set a price range of €9 to €12 a share for its Frankfurt listing, implying a market cap of €148m to €197m.

ChemChina is in the early bird stage of syndication for its KraussMaffei acquisition loan and is targeting relationship banks, according to a banker familiar with the deal. Commitments are due around the end of the month.

Rocket Internet has raised a $420m unlisted fund that will invest in its portfolio companies — an innovative funding mechanism arranged by Goldman Sachs.

FMS Wertmanagement has launched two separate tender offers on the Irish Stock Exchange for euro, swiss franc, US and Canadian dollar denominated covered bonds issued by DEPFA Bank and DEPFA Pfandbrief Bank SA.

HeidelbergCement, the German building materials manufacturer, has done part of the financing for its acquisition of ItalCementi in the Schuldschein market, but insists it is not afraid of volatility in the bond market.

NordLB

Five issuers from core Europe priced covered bonds this week but the standout success, which could have been priced without the European Central Bank’s help, was the first Austrian deal of the year from Erste Bank.

NRW.Bank printed a trio of €500m notes this week, equalling its highest ever weekly volume for private placements, according to Dealogic.

German Laender yields are expected to fall in the wake of the European Central Bank's announcement that sub-sovereign issuers are to be included in its asset purchase programme.

Raiffeisen-Landesbank Steiermark and Bayerische Landesbank issued Austrian and German Pfandbrief, respectively, on Wednesday. The fact that the Austrian deal was only just oversubscribed and the German deal was placed only with domestic investors reflected the pernicious influence of the covered bond purchase programme (CBPP3).

The European Financial Stability Facility and Nederlandse Waterschapsbank on Tuesday brought euro benchmarks in five and seven year maturities. Now much more at those tenors is expected.