LBBW

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.

German filter maker Mann+Hummel has joined the flock of borrowers issuing green Schuldscheine, raising €400m with a multitranche deal that closed on Wednesday.

The African Development Bank has sold its longest MTN ever, leading a spurt of long dated private placement euro issuance from public sector borrowers.

Irish aircraft lessor Goshawk is eyeing up a return to the Schuldschein market, less than a year after its $95m debut last October.