Natixis

With an unreconciled order book of almost €800m, Commerzbank’s €250m negative yielding eight year Pfandbrief tap issued on Friday neatly illustrated the desperation of investors.

The London Metals Exchange plans to offer a range of exchange traded and centrally cleared precious metal products, starting with gold and silver spot and futures contracts.

Aluminum Corporation of China (Chalco) has registered plans to sell a new foreign currency bond with the National Development and Reform Commission

A Chinese company-led consortium is set to use staple financing worth A$800m ($606.4m) to back its acquisition of a stake in Australia’s GenesisCare. The transaction has piqued the interest of loan market participants given how rarely the instrument is used in Asia, writes Shruti Chaturvedi.

In a rarely seen occurrence in Asia, a Chinese company-led consortium is set to use staple financing to support its acquisition of shares in Australian company GenesisCare, according to sources.

French medical equipment supplier Bastide Médical has refinanced its debt with €90m of syndicated loans and a €25m Euro PP. The firm is one of a number of smaller domestic companies providing deal flow for the loan market in a period when European borrowers have been less active.

Spain’s Cellnex Telecom, a broadcasting towers business, hit the investment grade and high yield euro markets on Monday, just over six weeks after it roadshowed for the deal.

Natixis caught the benefits of the excellent trading environment for rates and foreign exchange, on the back of the Brexit vote, while the bank’s M&A business also did well, following the integration and relaunch of Leonardo & Co as ‘Natixis Partners’.

Euros had to play second fiddle to a rampant dollar market this week, but there was still a steady flow of deals at the smaller end of the size scale.

Mediq, the Dutch pharmaceuticals firm owned by Advent, has launched a €200m dividend recapitalisation, holding an investor call on Wednesday. This follows German industrial services firm Bilfinger offering a €700m term loan at a bank meeting on Tuesday.

French residential real estate company Foncia on Monday reopened the book for a €800m loan backing its acquisition by a Partners Group-led consortium, after tightening pricing beyond guidance.

The European Stability Mechanism has chosen to tap its April 2024 line during its funding window this week, a move that bankers said was sensible given the seasonal thinning of liquidity in the market.