Germany

Germany's IPO renaissance is continuing with the flotation of Freidrich Vorwerk, the energy infrastructure construction company, which is due to price later today.

Guarantor: Federal Republic of Germany

Investors were left disappointed when Vantage Towers, the telecoms towers division of Vodafone, closed its Frankfurt IPO on Thursday. Despite attracting huge demand, a tight allocation strategy left many equity funds with little or no shares.

German state-owned development bank Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW) made a rare public green outing in the offshore renminbi market this week, raising Rmb1.25bn ($192m) from a deal that saw strong participation from green and ESG investors.

Food retailer Jumbo, a privately owned supermarket chain with shops in Belgium and the Netherlands, has launched an inaugural Schuldschein.

Greece and the Flemish Community are preparing to sell syndicated bonds at the long end of the euro curve following a strong reception for France with the sale of its second green OAT on Tuesday.

Europe’s crop of pre-Easter IPOs are moving swiftly thorough the pipeline and investors are engaging with deals after an improvement in risk sentiment in line with recovering secondary markets and several successful block trades last week.

Berlin Hyp’s six year green Pfandbrief and Bawag’s 20 year vanilla covered bond attracted strong demand on Tuesday reflecting the paucity of supply, a steadier rates outlook, the rare tenors on offer and, in Berlin Hyp’s case, the green collateral. At the same time VUB mandated leads for a five year covered bond, the first from Slovakia this year.

Berlin Hyp mandated leads for a rare green Pfandbrief on Monday. The deal has emerged amid a dearth of covered bond supply so far this year and takes advantage of a recent stabilisation in yields at higher levels.

Renault, the French car company, has raised €1.14bn from a sale of shares in German rival Daimler, the parent of Mercedes-Benz. The French firm will use the proceeds to reduce debts.

NRW.Bank became the latest non-UK public sector borrower to hit the sterling market this week, taking advantage of the attractive funding cost in the currency versus euros and US dollars.

The Climate Bonds Initiative has said the evidence for price benefits of green bonds is becoming "increasingly visible". Though proof of a pricing advantage in covered bonds is limited, it was on display this week when Crédit Agricole Italia issued is first green covered bond and more generally, the product attracts a wider investor base.