Natixis

Spanish civil engineering group ACS sold the first senior green bond by a corporate issuer for more than a month on Thursday, following a European roadshow earlier in the week. Green bonds are often said to offer a pricing benefit to issuers, but the company found it still had to pay a significant new issue premium.

The Province of Alberta printed its first ever euro bond on Wednesday, opting to follow its compatriot Ontario in attacking the sweet spot for investors at seven years.

The euro market is back in gear after a few weeks of slow issuance. Three borrowers have mandated deals for Tuesday’s session but one opted for a one day execution, coming on Monday to get ahead of the rush.

Volkswagen Financial Services had been conspicuous by its absence in the euro corporate bond market in the first quarter of 2018. Having been the largest corporate issuer by volume in 2017, the company had used other markets so far this year before selling a new triple tranche deal.

Ukrainian steel and mining company Metinvest sold its dual tranche five and eight year bond on Wednesday, but the thin oversubscription and pricing at the wide end of final price guidance have suggested a meagre appetite for hairier bits of emerging market debt.

Euro PP market players are growing confident that widening spreads and growing volatility in the unrated and high yield public bond markets will drive an increase in the average deal size in their market in the coming six months.

Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) has sent off invitations to its annual financing for its cocoa harvest amid concerns it may struggle to repay its previous loan.

Ukrainian steel and mining company Metinvest has released initial price guidance for its dual tranche bond, which is bring printed in conjunction with a tender offer for the company’s 2021s.

French consulting company Capgemini wasted no time after the Easter break in announcing a new dual-tranche corporate bond issue on Tuesday. The benchmark tranches had 6.5 year and 10 year tenors and were announced alongside a tender offer, but the issuer had to pay a significant premium to its secondary curve.

Agricultural commodities trader ED&F Man has signed three revolving credit facilities totaling $1.128bn, bringing the UK company’s committed funds to more than $2.4bn at a time when the company’s sugar and grains businesses have taken a hammering.

French supermarket group Carrefour returned to the equity-linked market on Thursday to sell a $500m equity-neutral convertible bond due in January 2024.

French food company Danone received a strong response on Monday when it sold its inaugural social bond, the first from a corporate issuer since the social bond principles were set out by the International Capital Market Association in June 2017.