Intesa Sanpaolo

Intesa Sanpaolo chose to split an additional tier one (AT1) deal into two tranches on Thursday, with one eye on the secondary performance of the bonds and the other on the maturity profile of its debt capital stock.

Banca IFIS sold a senior bond this week, as Italian bank bond spreads rallied following Intesa Sanpaolo’s takeover bid for UBI Banca.

Intesa Sanpaolo caught the market by surprise when it launched a takeover bid for UBI Banca on Monday night. The announcement sent credit and equity valuations surging higher, with investors pinning their hopes on consolidation in the Italian banking sector.

Italian banks have been piling into the primary bond market in the first quarter, capitalising on an incredible rally in the sector as investors look for new sources of value.

Vakifbank printed its $750m 5.25% 2025s on Wednesday from a book that reached higher than $4.3bn at its peak, but the note was seen below re-offer in London’s secondary market on Thursday morning.

Turkey's Vakifbank has released initial price guidance for a dollar benchmark, with the intention of printing the deal later on Wednesday.

Italian construction giant Salini Impregilo offered to exchange its 3.75% notes, due in 2021, to new non-call life senior notes, maturing in seven years. The €250m deal is set to be completed by Friday this week with initial price thoughts of 3.875% — indicating that Salini may have lost favour among investors and will have to pay extra to extend maturities.

The sluggish European loan market has been dealt another blow this week, after Takeaway.com got overwhelming support for its all share merger with Just Eat to kill a £5.5bn ($7.16bn) loan funded rival offer from Prosus.

Unione di Banche Italiane was close to 14 times subscribed for a €400m additional tier one (AT1) in the euro market on Monday, as it capitalised on expectations of scarce supply in the asset class. The debut deal means the bank will become the fourth Italian issuer of AT1 capital.

Foreign and domestic banks flocked to the UK this week as they sought to take advantage of stellar funding conditions in the sterling market. Bankers said this was the first chance issuers had to benefit from opportunities in the currency following December’s general election, which removed a lot of short-term uncertainty around Brexit.

Crédit Agricole Italia marketed a dual-tranche bond with eight year and 25 year maturities. A steeper curve helped the longer tranche offer a higher pickup against the shorter bond, but investors still placed hefty orders on both tenors.

Banks are already closing in on a record January in terms of new bond sales in the sterling market, as foreign and domestic issuers take early advantage of funding opportunities in the currency.