Greece

The European Stability Mechanism said it would disburse €2.72bn to recapitalise Piraeus Bank on Monday, drawing upon the €10bn in funds earmarked for the Greek recovery for the first time.

OTE, the Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation, returned to the bond market on Tuesday with a €350m four year at a yield of just 4.625%, despite high yield bankers saying the mood in the market was still unstable.

It may be late November, but equity capital markets are still busy with a stack of high profile deals, even now that last week's four Greek bank recapitalisations are out of the way. Abengoa's rights issue now looks unlikely to go ahead, as the company's woes have deepened.

OTE, the Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation, held an investor call on Tuesday November 24 for what could be the first Greek corporate bond issue in euros this year.

Market participants expressed relief on Thursday at the likely success of at least three of four capital raises being executed by Greece’s largest banks this week, after days of arduous bookbuilding. Olivier Holmey reports.

Alpha Bank and Eurobank closed bookbuilding for their capital raisings on Tuesday evening, having secured enough demand from investors to completely fill their capital holes, without any need for public funds.

The capital raisings of Greece’s four largest banks, totalling €6bn, continue to dominate the news in equity capital markets this week, though the IPO market is bringing its fair share of deals as well.

A delayed agreement struck between Greece and its European partners on Tuesday looked set to reassure investors considering investing in the capital raises of Greece’s four largest banks.

The capital raisings of Greece’s four largest banks are likely to close later than many had expected, after a Eurogroup meeting failed to deliver an agreement at the weekend.

One of the main events of the end of the year in equity capital markets is under way, as Greece’s four main banks line up capital raisings to cover yet another shortfall, writes Olivier Holmey.

Alpha Bank has launched on November 11 a share sale to raise €1.66bn, as part of its €2.74bn capital strengthening plan, to address capital weakness discovered in recent EU stress tests.

Alpha Bank has launched a €1.6bn share offer, looking to build on new equity created from a debt exchange as it tries to fill a near €3bn capital hole with private funds.