Natixis

The European high yield bond pipeline was stuffed with an array of mainly sub-benchmark deals this week, after issuance volume hit a historic high.

Nederlandse Waterschapsbank (NWB) launched a four year green bond on Tuesday, pricing flat to its curve and clearing the way for Agence Française de Développement (AFD) to attempt to emulate the Dutch agency’s success.

Saudi Electricity Co’s $1.75bn loan has been successfully sold down to four other banks.

Wind Tre, the Italian telecoms group, delivered Europe's largest ever high yield bond issue this week, a €7.3bn deal that has raised the bar for the market and led to expectations that more sponsors will follow suit amid heady investor demand.

Floating rate investors were not left behind in Monday’s glut of issuance. RCI Banque, the Baa1/BBB rated car financing subsidiary of Renault, brought a seven year floater, sized at €500m no-grow.

Agence Française de Développement has placed a €205m clip maturing in 2037, exceeding the length of its previous longest trade in the currency by five years.

The European high yield bond pipeline this week brought €1bn of single-B rated offerings in euros and sterling from new issuers, giving hope to those working for a bigger borrower base for the market.

Wind Tre, the Italian telecoms company, issued its €7.3bn senior secured bond deal on Tuesday, a day ahead of schedule, and priced all four tranches at the tight end of guidance.

Has Europe’s corporate bond market ever been hotter than today? Perhaps, but Monday’s four investment grade deals totalling €7.4bn offered ample evidence of extraordinary demand — not least, what is believed to be the most tightly priced corporate hybrid capital issue ever, for Danone.

Agence Française de Développement will go on tour to market its newly established climate bonds programme in preparation for a euro deal with a tenor between five and 10 years.

Salini Impregilo, the Italian construction firm, printed new bonds with a coupon under 2% on Thursday, becoming only the third high yield borrower to duck under the hurdle this year.

Italian telecoms firm Wind called on the high yield market on Wednesday, as it planned to refinance most of its debt with a dual currency five tranche offering, deploying 20 bookrunners in the process.