Intesa Sanpaolo

Ascopiave, the Italian natural gas distribution company, has signed a sustainability-linked loan, weeks after the issuer announced its debt pile had increased by a third in a year.

Webuild, the Italian construction company formerly known as Salini Impregilo, has launched a refinancing of its €600m 2021 bond, after finally completing the takeover of stricken competitor Astaldi at the beginning of last month. The new tender offer is intended to finish a refi attempt started in January, which received lacklustre take-up.

Sub-investment grade Italian lenders Banco BPM and Illimity Bank were well-supported in the euro bond market on Thursday, as investors showed they were more than happy to look at riskier names in their search for yield.

Intesa Sanpaolo paid a visit to the MTN market this week to print a rare, privately placed tier two deal in euros.

Opportunistic corporate issuers had a strong day of it on Wednesday in Europe's bond market, increasing deal sizes and enjoying bulging order books as investors turned positive on the outlook for the market.

Italian SME lender Illimity Bank is getting ready to sell its first senior bond by asking investors what sort of a price they would want to pay for the single B rated paper.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena found plenty of demand for a new senior bond in the euro market on Tuesday, aided by growing speculation about the possibility of a merger with UniCredit.

Bank lenders are hopeful that volumes across the typically active central and eastern Europe region will pick up, after what has been a disappointing year. This week Romanian meat processing company Carmistin Group raised a syndicated loan from a range of regional lenders, which is one of only five deals signed in the country this year.

Sub-benchmark deals are not so much of a novelty anymore: a trio of rare names filled their boots with diminutive deals this week, with each attracting bumper demand.

Hera, the Italian utility, had the market to itself on Thursday, as corporate bond supply fell. But syndicate desks were split over whether this week’s roaring demand could encourage other opportunistic issuers to the market well into December.

As benchmark issuance remains on the side-lines, smaller issuers have come out to play, with rare borrowers Cassa Centrale Raiffeisen dell’Alto Adige and Luminor Bank on the hunt for deals Lilliputian in size on Tuesday. A handful of larger issuers are keeping a close eye, and could come to the market with small deals of their own in the coming weeks.

Small transactions reached big audiences in the financial institutions bond market this week, as investors realised they would need to consider buying sub-benchmark supply in order to make the most of a dwindling deal pipeline. Tyler Davies and Frank Jackman report.