Intesa Sanpaolo

Russia's largest producer of anthracite coal, Siberian Anthracite, is expected to complete a loan refinancing in September. The deal will see Sibanthracite switch its existing loan facility from dollars to euros, as bankers offer a number of reasons for the switch, including preventative protection from sanctions and the elimination of operational delays.

Terna, the Italian high voltage grid operator, returned to the corporate bond market on Thursday, for the third time this year. It joined a steady procession of Italian companies that have been issuing bonds, taking advantage of the present benign market conditions, with an eye to the risk of volatility blighting their market access in the autumn.

Investors pumped €2.25bn of demand into Italgas’s €600m 10 year note on Wednesday, leaving the deal nearly four times covered. That was despite a soft economic background and the more muted €1bn of demand Goodman European Partnership, the logistics Reit, had got on Monday for its €400m 10 year no-grow bond.

Italy’s Salini Impregilo is pushing ahead with plans to buy compatriot troubled construction rival Astaldi after getting the preliminary nod from financiers, with the acquiring company set to raise €600m among a raft of funding agreements.

Europe's corporate bond market is sauntering towards the holidays at a gentle pace, with spreads slightly wider and no one in a hurry. But deals are still available for issuers that want them.

FinecoBank was more than nine times subscribed for its first ever sale of an additional tier one instrument on Thursday, despite pricing the deal at a level that was lower than what might have been expected for a similar offering from UniCredit, its former parent.

Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, Italy's state railway company, launched a €700m seven year green bond into an otherwise empty corporate bond market on Thursday. The Independence Day holiday in the US kept markets quiet this week, and eager investors may be frustrated next week too.

UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo printed €3bn of new debt this week, almost doubling the amount sold by Italian banks this month. Around €6.5bn of bonds have been sold in June, making it the largest amount of Italian bank bonds sold in a single month since early 2014.

Motability Operations Group, the UK company that operates the UK government's scheme to provide cars for the disabled, printed a £1.438bn-equivalent euro and sterling three tranche bond on Wednesday, in a busy day that also brought a €1bn two part issue from OMV, the Austrian oil and gas company.

Sharjah-based United Arab Bank (UAB) has raised a $195m loan from a consortium of local and European banks, as borrowers in the region continue to diversify their portfolios with international lenders.

With equities in green, Thursday was a fair sailing day for corporate bond issues in Europe, and five issuers took advantage, including two French names and two Swedish. Demand was strong and terms tight.

Intesa Sanpaolo has signed a memorandum of understanding with Rubicon Capital Advisers, as part of the Italian bank’s attempts to beef up origination and distribution.