Natixis

Natixis has given its head of loan syndicate a new role, making him global head of high yield corporate distribution and trading.

French building services outsourcer Atalian printed a €625m seven year bond on Wednesday, bringing total high yield issuance for the week to over €2.6bn.

French food producer Labeyrie Fine Foods both widened pricing and reduced the size for its €500m term loan this week, as changeable market conditions have driven a cheapening of several primary deals in the leveraged loan market.

Two commodities companies have rolled out separate syndications into the loan market, with Vitol Asia approaching lenders for $1bn and Gunvor Singapore looking for $800m.

Rare covered bond issuers from Portugal and Spain made a surprise return to the market this week after long absences with transactions that, under the circumstances, were very well received.

Banco Sabadell enjoyed a strong reception for its €1bn 10 year Cédulas which was priced on Wednesday, partly reflecting the paucity of Spanish covered bond supply, especially at the long end of the curve.

The French presidential election saga has taken another twist, with far-right candidate Marine Le Pen’s chances slipping — but those of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, from the other extreme of the political spectrum, rising. Asian investors are pulling back from deals until the election hurdle is cleared, say issuers — but the rise of Mélenchon may also provide an earlier than expected relief rally.

Guarantor: Republic of France

French dough maker Cérélia has launched a €345m loan package for its acquisition of Canadian cookie and muffin maker English Bay Batter, joining UK nurseries firm Busy Bees in signing a roll-up acquisition.

Mubadala raised $1.5bn in the bond market on Tuesday with a dual tranche seven and 12 year deal, the deal was well subscribed but didn’t come as tight to the sovereign as Mubadala’s previous issue.

Wobbles in eurozone government bond secondaries this week failed to deter a strong showing from a pair of public sector issuers in primary on Tuesday. Unédic found strong demand and tightened from guidance on its longest dated benchmark ever, while Austria broke a series of records with a 10 year euro benchmark.

The pace of borrowing has slackened for public sector borrowers as Easter approaches but a few are still out hunting for second quarter funding.