NatWest Markets

Cadent Gas launched what by some counts is only the second transition bond on Wednesday and achieved a stellar reception in the market. The €500m no-grow bond was priced without a new issue concession and tightened sharply on the break, according to a banker on the deal.

Two German states rebooted the primary SSA market on Tuesday with intraday deals at the opposite ends of the euro curve. The five year deal was almost two times covered but there were no book updates for the 15 year.

Conditions are changing so fast with the coronavirus epidemic that each day could bring a change in sentiment, but for the time being leveraged finance is staying calm and continuing to function. There is more activity in this high risk corner of Europe’s capital markets than in any other, apart from sovereign, supranational and agency bonds.

Ascential, the UK media and events company, scaled back lenders after its £450m-equivalent bank line refinancing was oversubscribed.

The European Stability Mechanism has requested its primary dealers or ‘market group banks’ to set up entities within the 27 member states of the European Union in order for them to participate in bond auctions by the supranational and its sister issuer, the European Financial Stability Facility.

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Cadent Gas, the UK gas distribution network spun off by National Grid in 2017, will roadshow from Tuesday next week for a €500m transition bond. The deal is likely to delight green bond specialists who have championed the idea of transition bonds as a way to finance companies that are not green, but are moving towards lower carbon business models.

BPCE raised senior bond funding in sterling on Thursday, making use of constructive conditions in the currency. The lender launched its deal at a spread that, on an after-swap basis, was roughly in line with where it could have landed in euros.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development took a huge order book for its Sonia-linked floating rate note on Wednesday, which introduced a new coupon calculation methodology for the sterling risk free rate. But market participants away from the deal said the demand did not reflect broad approval of the new format among investors.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will be introducing a new coupon calculation methodology for Sonia-linked floating rate notes with its deal on Wednesday. The trade will use the structure that it pioneered for its Sofr debut last summer. The leads say this new format will be helpful should Sonia move towards a single index, like Sofr will in March. But some bankers away from the deal are unconvinced that the new method will appeal to investors.

C&C Group, the Irish drinks manufacturer and distributor behind brands like Magners, is set to debut in the US private placement market in the coming weeks, according to market sources.

Royal Bank of Scotland — or NatWest Group, as it plans to rebrand itself later this year — is set to cut back risk-weighted assets in the investment bank, particularly in rates. The bank also committed to stricter lending and underwriting criteria for fossil fuel companies.