Italy

EU finance ministers are expected to agree at an Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) meeting next Tuesday on an action plan to tackle the eurozone's €1tr of non-performing loans (NPLs) and to prevent the emergence of more in the future.

Pasubio, the Italian maker of speciality car upholstery, is funding its buyout by CVC with a leveraged loan and revolver launched on Wednesday in an issuer-friendly market.

Italy's Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) has spelt out its plans to return to stability and profitability, after a long running brush with resolution ended with a ‘precautionary recapitalisation’ by the Italian state this week.

UBI Banca, the Italian bank, completed its €400m rights issue on Friday June 30, when the tiny rump of 6.7m rights, not subscribed for during the subscription period, were all sold on the stockmarket in the first few minutes they were offered.

After another busy week, the corporate bond market had no new issues to consider on Friday. However, over €12.5bn-equivalent of deals had been priced earlier in the week, 10% more than the week before.

Italian debt servicing firm DoBank started bookbuilding on Friday for an IPO of up to €292m in Milan, as an expected increase in troubled loans spurs investor interest in the sector.

European authorities have determined that the long struggling regional Italian lenders Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca will be liquidated under national legal proceedings and their good parts will be sold to Intesa Sanpaolo. Italian bank bonds rallied on details of the plan, which involves burden sharing and nearly €17bn of state aid measures.

The spate of equity linked issuance since the market reopened in mid-May quickened on Thursday with the launch of the largest “real CB” in EMEA for more than two years: a $1.5bn deal for STMicroelectronics, one of the region’s most prolific issuers.

Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane was the only issuer in the corporate bond market on Thursday. The Italian railway operator's eight year €1bn deal followed a European roadshow last week and took a similar path to other deals this week.

Putting litigation problems behind it, Italian buildings manager Manutencoop Facility Management SpA returned to the high yield bond market on Wednesday to fund a buyout, in which its cooperative parent will buy private equity firms out of its shareholder structure.

Maria Cannata, director of Italy’s public debt, has hit back over comments about the country's government bonds made by Andrew Balls, Pimco’s chief investment officer of global fixed income risk.

Looming political risk in Italy make the sovereign’s levels of yield and the spread it offers over German Bunds look too low, according to Andrew Balls, chief investment officer of global fixed income at PIMCO.