LBBW

LBBW came to the market with its first green bond on Tuesday, hoping to reach new investors. It plans to issue at least one to two benchmark green trades a year in the senior unsecured or covered format.

Amprion, the German electricity transmission firm, has raised €200m with an issue of Schuldscheine and Namensschuldverschreibungen (NSV) — a similar instrument that is registered and can have a maturity longer than 10 years.

The financial institutions bond market is set to welcome two more debut offerings in the coming weeks, with Banco Comercial Português (BCP) lining up its first tier two deal and LBBW choosing banks to arrange its inaugural green senior bond.

Once the unwavering bastion of eurozone strength, stable through an otherwise turbulent year, the German government managed to unsettle the euro market this week. The collapse of the German coalition talks at the weekend forced one SSA borrower to adjust its plans on the fly and was partly blamed for two borrowers’ failure to fill their order books. Lewis McLellan reports.

Two of the three SSA euro syndications this week found the market tough going, relying on lead managers to fill orderbooks. Some SSA bankers lay the blame, in part, on the collapse in German government coalition talks at the weekend.

Guarantor: Federal Republic of Germany

Unédic completed its funding programme for 2017 with a seven year benchmark on Tuesday, selling into a market eager for French paper. Bpifrance will look to capitalise on the same appetite after mandating for a Wednesday deal.

Demand is so hot in Europe's corporate bond market, that with pricing being driven to ever tighter levels, bankers are beginning to believe the rally is self-sustaining, and would continue even without European Central Bank (ECB) support, writes Nigel Owen.

In October, German chemicals company BASF announced it had agreed to buy parts of Bayer’s seed and non-selective herbicide businesses for €5.9bn, all in cash. On Wednesday it started to fund that with a €3bn triple tranche bond sale.

Lonza, the Swiss medical firm, is sounding the market for a $100m seven year loan, following a €870m-equivalent Schuldschein transaction in August.

Amprion, the German electricity transmission firm, is looking to raise €100m with the Schuldschein product as well as the Namensschuldverschreibung (NSV) — a similar instrument that is registered and can have a maturity longer than 10 years.

Innogy, the German utility split off from RWE in April 2016, on Wednesday announced it would be holding investor calls about a new benchmark 10 year debut green bond issue. Later in the day, Standard & Poor’s upgraded the issuer to BBB.