Italy

Mediobanca has been speaking with a 'high' number of investors in the euro market this week, as it gears up to sell the first ever deal from its green and sustainable bond programme.

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.

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.

Italy will receive a €2bn loan from the European Investment Bank to help cover the reinforcement of its healthcare system required to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

Covered bond issuers using programmes containing a special purpose vehicle (SPV) have more guidance on the treatment of bad loans and protect bondholders further compared with those using integrated templates, Fitch said this week when assessing the risk coronavirus era mortgage payment holidays pose to the asset class.

STMicroelectronics, the French-Italian semiconductor maker, has raised $1.5bn through the sale of new convertible bonds, the company said on Tuesday.

EMEA’s equity capital markets were buzzing on Friday morning after Goldman Sachs placed a 13.2m block of shares in Cellnex, the Spanish telecoms tower company, which allowed the company’s largest shareholder to monetise rights that it intends not to exercise in the issuer's forthcoming €4bn rights issue.

Citi has appointed Cristina Paviglianiti and Luca Sabbatini to run markets and securities services in Italy, adding to a series of recent appointments across its European investment bank.

Analysts think Intesa Sanpaolo will succeed in winning over UBI Banca’s shareholders after sweetening the terms of its takeover bid. The merger deal is seen as an important test case for consolidation in the Italian banking sector.

Terna, the Italian high voltage grid operator, issued a green 12 year €500m no-grow bond on Friday.

Gambling firm Gamenet sold €640m in fixed and floating senior secured notes this week, in a bid to refinance its take-private by private equity firm Apollo as well as two outstanding floating rate notes. The Italian company amended a raft of terms to sweeten the deal for investors.