Morgan Stanley

Bank of Ireland returned to the covered bond market on Tuesday to issue its fifth deal since November 2012, when it returned after the Irish sovereign debt crisis. The transaction was well oversubscribed with plenty of orders, but less spectacularly so than on previous issues.

The additional tier one debt market got its first taste of investor pullback as KBC Group’s €1.43bn perpetual non-call five year transaction traded wider than it where it was priced on Thursday morning.

French funeral services firm OGF hopes to take advantage of improved market conditions by repricing the €575m LBO term loan it raised last summer.

Frasers Centrepoint’s hospitality real estate investment trust is one step closer to floating on the Singapore Exchange after its proposed IPO was given the stamp of approval by the country’s regulator, according to a March 12 exchange filing.

Market softening on continuing concerns over the Asian economy isn’t having any apparent effect on KBC Group’s euro additional tier one deal, which was launched on Wednesday morning by lead managers Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, KBC Bank, Morgan Stanley and UBS. The deal is looking set to price at the tightest coupon level for an AT1 deal so far, despite other recent names trading weaker on the secondary market on Wednesday.

Vector Capital has sold a 7.7% stake in French media firm Technicolor in an ABB on Monday evening, raising €117m.

Investors who missed out in the scramble for allocations on the heavily oversubscribed high yield bond issue from Obrascon Huarte Lain last week could shortly be given a second chance to buy into the Spanish infrastructure sector, with the announcement of a roadshow for Grupo Isolux Corsan.

Barwa Bank has named Khalid Al-Subeai as acting chief executive, describing the appointment as an indication of its commitment to 'Qatarisation and the progression of Qatari talent at all levels'.

The senior unsecured market started with a bang on Monday, despite the European market softening late on Friday.

A botched attempt to sell all of its holdings in Hana Financial Group on March 5 did not put Korean Exchange Bank off for long, as the lender revisited the equity market a day later. But instead of coming with another public transaction, KEB took home W178bn ($166m) via a private placement.

Syndicate bankers are primed for a busy period in dollars next week following the smooth execution of four benchmarks in the currency this week despite uncertainty and volatility caused by the situation in Ukraine.

HeidelbergCement launched a drive-by high yield bond on Wednesday to a very strong reception from investors.