NatWest Markets

Prologis, the US-based warehouse Reit group, recently became the first issuer from its sector to issue a green bond, when it sold a €300m 10 year deal.

UK gaming group GVC Holdings has launched a £1.9bn equivalent loan facility into general syndication, as the company edges closer to its up to £3.9bn acquisition of Ladbrokes Coral.

On Friday, Unilever Spreads released guidance for its €4.6bn equivalent loan to fund its acquisition by KKR. French telecoms infrastructure group Circet also launched a smaller deal, a €570m loan package for its buyout by Advent. But investor demand isn't satisfied yet, say some market participants.

On Thursday, Prologis, the US-based warehouse Reit group, became the first issuer from its sector to issue a green bond, when it sold a €300m 10 year deal.

RCI Banque was one of the first issuers to sell a corporate bond in 2018. It has returned two months later with a dual-tranche offering which took advantage of demand for floating rate notes as well as fixed rate paper.

The total issuance of investment grade corporate bonds in February was an underwhelming €14.8bn but the property sector has outshone all others in 2018 and this week was no different as investors had further diversification to consider.

Six of the nine investment grade corporate new issues in the last week of February were announced with a three letter acronym that, while providing clarity, served to frustrate investors keen to see greater volumes of issuance. WNG stands for “will not grow” and this week told investors that the meagre sized deals would not be increased, irrespective of demand.

Finnish residential property developer Kojamo and French care home operator Orpea added to the geographical diversity of the property company corporate bonds sold this week with a €500m seven year deal, while frequent issuer RCI Banque sold a dual tranche offering

French commercial property company Carmila returned to the investment grade bond market after two years away and received a positive response from investors for its longest maturity to date.

Five new investment grade corporate bond deals were priced on Tuesday and, while pricing was competitive, none of the issuers allowed for any growth in the size of the deals as all five used a no-grow strategy.

Royal Bank of Scotland was in the market selling €4.75bn of debt across three tranches from its holding company and operating company on Tuesday, putting a large dent in its recently updated funding targets.

Assystem Technologies, a French engineering specialist owned by Ardian, is launching an add-on to its term loans to fund its purchase of German peer SQS Software Quality Systems, as merger and acquisition deals gain share in the leveraged loan market.