Italy

UBI Banca on Wednesday showed that green bonds still rank high on the list of preferences for investors, after it sold a €500m five year senior preferred deal with an order book three times as large.

The Milan listing of Nexi was covered on March 29, the same day as books opened, attracting solid interest from buyers that see opportunities in jumping on a potential Italian payments revolution.

Banca Carige has sold one of its outstanding covered bonds back into the market as the ailing Italian lender comes into a crucial period for turning its business around and attracting buyout bids.

Centerbridge Partners has sold a €119.2m chunk of its stake in Banca Farmafactoring, the Italian factoring company that specialises in payments owed by public institutions to the healthcare sector, after the stock has rebounded since October.

A trio sovereigns went to the MTN market over the past week, including Italy, which issued a yen bond for the first time since 2009. The deal, led by Nomura, was also its first issue in a foreign currency since 2010.

Issuance of Italian bank debt in 2019 has nearly caught up with last year’s running total. Banca Popolare di Sondrio this week followed Mediobanca and UniCredit into the market to cap off a big week of supply by the nation’s lenders. The run could yet extend further, with UBI Banca gearing up for a debut green bond.

Italy has issued a yen bond for the first time since 2009. The deal, led by Nomura, is also its first issue in a foreign currency since 2010.

The IPOs of two payments companies being marketed in Europe have moved ahead in the past 48 hours. Italian firm Nexi has set a price range, while Dubai-based Network International has attracted Mastercard as a cornerstone investor. Equity investors are now assessing whether to pay high multiples for future growth.

Italy’s Mediobanca made light work of its return to the senior unsecured market on Tuesday, launching a well subscribed €500m bond with a negative new issue premium, according to a banker on the deal.

Investors looking at the multi-billion euro listing of Italian payments company Nexi are largely comfortable with the country’s political environment, focusing more on whether its private equity sellers will seek too high a price.

In this round-up, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bank of China to issue a Rmb5bn Panda bond, Bank of Beijing and ING agreed to launch a JV and the Shanghai tech board published detailed information on nine IPO candidates.

In this round-up, Chinese president Xi Jinping starts a five-day visit to Europe, the eighth and ninth rounds of trade talks are scheduled and local government bonds will soon be available at bank counters.