Natixis

Three issuers from France, Belgium and Germany raised €2.5bn in the covered bond market this week, and another €1bn transaction was expected from a Finnish issuer on Friday. The deals were all remarkable for the fact that the funding levels set new records for all issuers as the ECB’s allocation continued to grow, squeezing out other investors.

Agricultural products supplier Olam International has mandated 19 banks for a $2.475bn triple tranche refinancing of a $2.22bn bridge loan that it sealed in May.

Indonesian oil and gas company Pertamina, which mandated 12 lenders for its $1.8bn five year loan in October, launched the facility into general syndication on November 18.

Mercialys, the French property company spun off from supermarkets group Casino, priced a €550m 8.3 year bond on Tuesday, in conjunction with a buyback offer for its €650m 2019 bond, to extend its debt maturity profile.

Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, the Spanish building and environmental services company, is close to reaching agreement with its creditors on a debt restructuring, according to a spokesman for the company.

Publicis Groupe's $3.5bn loan for its acquisition of Sapient, the marketing and consulting company, is near closing, according to a banker working on the deal. A syndicate of relationship banks has been invited.

Endemol - Zenith Bank - 3i - Faurecia

The covered bond market has started to lose some of the energy and excitement that followed the announcement of the European Central Bank’s purchase programme. This week, BPCE issued a finely tuned deal that was sized precisely to demand.

Santander returned to covered bonds this week with its first deal in nearly two years which, by virtue of its sheer size and duration, was remarkable. The two tranche deal included a 20 year piece that has not been seen in covered bonds for seven years. This was targeted to asset managers and insurers in the private sector — in sharp contrast to many other deals such as a €250m four year tap from LBBW that the Bundesbank mostly bought. The trades rammed home the distortion the European Central Bank's purchase programme (CBPP3) is causing the covered bond market which market makers said had potential to cause considerable mark to market pain.

CNP Assurances benefited from a lack of insurance supply when selling a perpetual tier two deal on Wednesday, setting the stage for other insurers to tap the market over the coming week.

Faurecia, the French car parts manufacturer, has refinanced a €1.15bn undrawn loan facility, hiring 10 banks.

The European Central Bank's covered bond purchase programme (CBPP3) turned relative value upside down this week, with a French deal pricing inside a similar Swedish offering, among a crop of four new issues.