Germany

Equity capital markets bankers have showed this week they are happier to underwrite big block trades for clients than they were earlier in the year, a sign of a healthy market for large secondary sales.

SMBC Nikko has hired Markus Steilen as managing director and head of continental European debt syndicate, based in Frankfurt, as it expands its capital markets capabilities in the region.

German telecoms company United Internet began bookbuilding a Schuldschein on Wednesday afternoon, according to market sources. It has the tightest pricing on a new deal since the pandemic began.

Helaba came close to fair value with the pricing for its green and non-preferred senior debut on Wednesday, maintaining a solid order book despite competing supply in euros.

Belgian supermarket chain Louis Delhaize launched a Schuldschein on Tuesday afternoon, according to market sources, joining a band of retailers tapping the market this year.

Three public sector issuers hit the market with euro deals on Tuesday, but each opted to raise €500m or less. Their success could embolden Land NRW to return with its deal, but the market has yet to be tested by an issuer of its class.

Deutsche Bank is shifting about 100 banking jobs in its corporate banking division out of the UK to locations in Europe and Asia as part of a restructuring.

Bank borrowers returned to a stronger euro bond market on Tuesday, but deal arrangers warned of lingering concern over rates and inflation as KBC Group struggled to draw a crowd for a long-dated offering.

Volatility subsided amid a series of public holidays in Europe on Monday, raising hopes for a busier week of bank bond supply.

hGears, the German maker of precision gears for e-mobility, kept its head above water in trading on Friday after the company’s €173m IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, against extremely difficult market conditions.

The family of Heinz-Herman Thiele, the late German billionaire industrialist, sold over half their stake in Deutsche Lufthansa, the German flag carrier, via an accelerated bookbuild on Thursday night.

The German parliament has voted to remove a legal obstacle that had prevented the issuance of bonds that were not tied to a physical sheet of paper, as issuers across Europe increasingly look to offer fully digital securities.