Morgan Stanley

A buoyant January in equities markets has been followed by a difficult start to February, with the first IPOs out of a full pipeline seeing some issues in marketing just as stock markets tumble across the globe.

The €478m IPO of Instone Real Estate, the German home builder, is covered at its full size, less than four working days into the bookbuild.

A group of five banks has agreed to underwrite UK garages company EG Group’s $2.15bn purchase of US firm Kroger’s convenience store business, after the equity market wobbles this week failed to put a dent in the year’s M&A extravaganza.

Public sector borrowers are reaping the benefits of investors looking to “weather the storm” of wider market volatility, said bankers, as investors poured cash into short dated dollar issues this week. Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten and Sweden are set to be the next issuers to benefit, after mandating for three year trades on Tuesday.

Three dollar borrowers have hit screens in a market buoyed by a pronounced Treasury sell-off.

A-Living Services has priced its Hong Kong IPO below the midpoint of guidance. The company raised HK$4.1bn ($524.2m) after the deal was well-received across all tranches.

German housebuilder Instone Real Estate could be worth as much as €943m when it lists on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange this month if its IPO is priced at the top of the range.

The IPO of Metrovacesa, the Spanish property developer, finished oversubscribed on Friday after the deal was repriced downwards after reaching the end of its scheduled bookbuild period without any covered message having been given.

Two weeks after rating agency S&P softened its stance on the early refinancing of hybrid instruments, Dutch energy distributor Alliander became the first issuer to take advantage when it sold a successful hybrid deal alongside a tender offer for a hybrid bond it issued just over four years ago.

The euro market is taking a breather as a frenetic January draws to a close. But one borrower hit screens and launched a deal on Wednesday, while the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) sent out a request for proposals for next week.

Italian toll road operator Società Iniziative Autostradali e Servizi (SIAS) followed a four day investor roadshow with its third 10 year bond this week. A €1.9bn order book allowed the company to print its largest ever deal at a much tighter spread than its previous two offerings.

Equity investors have entered the New Year hungry for assets. Demand on deals has well exceeded initial volumes, leading to issuers increasing sale sizes.