Italy

Italy is a country of fast cars and has some some terrific companies for investors to invest in, but buyers must always keep in mind that political instability is as quintessentially Italian — and unpredictable — as an Alfa Romeo. It doesn't mean they cannot enjoy the ride, however.

Ferretti, the Italian manufacturer of luxury yachts, is still planning to lead the autumn Italian IPO pipeline, despite the increasing likelihood that the country’s coalition government could collapse after the resignation of the Prime Minister.

The European Central Bank has given Banca Carige the all-clear to try and carry out its latest plans to turn itself around. The ailing Italian lender said on Monday that its next step will be to ask its shareholders for their approval at a meeting next month.

An impressive rally in Italian risk assets has been completely overturned this week, as Italy descended into political chaos. Some market participants now fear a repeat of last year, when Italian issuers were frozen out of debt and equity markets as the country’s government fought with the European Commission over its annual budget targets. Tyler Davies and Sam Kerr report.

Political chaos in Italy disguises the progress made turning around the country’s banking sector.

Disruption in Italian politics has punished the BTP market this week as the country heads towards a possible autumn general election.

Rising expectations of a snap Italian election before the end of the year are threatening to send the spread between 10 year Bunds and BTPs wider by as much as 250bp, according to analysts.

Issuers are set to gravitate towards selling higher yielding regulatory debt in the post-summer issuance window, so that they can attract investors and compensate for low overall interest rates. But FIG bankers are unsure what concessions will be needed to get deals away.

Shares in doValue, Europe’s largest corporate servicer of non-performing loans (NPLs), were snapped up during a €52.3m accelerated share sale on Wednesday night, sold by Eurocastle.

Lloyds Bank dipped into dollars for senior funding on Wednesday, a day after UBS launched a deal in the same currency. A syndicate official noted that European financial institutions are being tempted across the Atlantic amid more inhospitable conditions in the euro market this summer.

Luxury sports car company Ferrari has sold €300m of US private placement notes, according to an SEC filing on Friday. Its debut offering is one of only a handful of transactions from the auto sector to reach the market.

Italy’s Cassa Depositi e Prestiti printed a long-awaited Rmb1bn ($145m) inaugural Panda bond on Wednesday, with the modest issuance size revealing the roadblocks still facing the nascent debt market, writes Rebecca Feng.