Intesa Sanpaolo

KBC was marketing a fixed-to-floating rate note on Thursday. Strong demand allowed it to tighten pricing by 15bp during execution.

The Arab Republic of Egypt has secured its debut syndicated conventional and Islamic facility from a range of local and international lenders as it attempts to support the state budget, which has come under major pressure during the coronavirus crisis.

Mediobanca was able to attract demand seven times the size of its new €500m senior bond on Tuesday, which was its debut green deal. The high demand allowed the issuer to launch with a negative new issue premium based on its conventional curve.

Rating: Baa1/BBB/BBB-

FIG bankers say that market conditions are ripe for capital deals, but that issuers are starting to run out of room for more subordinated debt.

Activity in the financial institutions bond market has picked up this week after a long pause in euro supply. Danske Bank and Belfius Bank were among the names looking to capitalise on the improving market conditions on Wednesday.

Intesa Sanpaolo racked up plenty of orders behind an additional tier one (AT1) on Tuesday, showing that investors are hungry for new sources of yield. The deal ended a long pause for sales of subordinated debt in the euro market.

Bank credit investors are showing they won’t be forced into buying every new euro deal after the summer break, as they appear content to wait for further supply.

National champions have outpaced their smaller peers in the rally in bank bond spreads over recent months. Investors say individual valuations in the middle tier of the sector could pick up, but that the chances of consolidation may first have to improve.

The three major rating agencies have upgraded UBI’s credit rating, to be in line with Intesa Sanpaolo’s as the latter's takeover of the former concludes. Market participants are expecting UBI’s covered bond spreads to tighten as a result.

Spanish telecommunications infrastructure company Cellnex has finished its €4bn rights issue to fund further M&A opportunities, with an extremely high oversubscription.

Northvolt, the Swedish battery maker, has signed a $1.6bn credit facility. A range of lenders — from commercial to governmental — piled into the deal, which will effectively create a new industry in Europe.