NatWest Markets

Daimler raised £500m when it reopened the sterling corporate bond market two weeks ago following the summer break — and nothing more was seen in the currency until this week, when two deals raised a combined £1.1bn.

Dutch grid operator Stedin and French utility Suez offered investors more of the same when they tapped into what has been strong demand for longer dated corporate bonds on the same day, but found that appetite is starting to wane.

After a drought of new investment grade corporate bonds from the telecom sector, French operator Orange made it two in two days after Telefónica sold a seven year trade on Tuesday. Orange offered a 12 year tranche as well as another seven year offering, but had to leave something on the table to achieve a €2bn print.

On the same day BMW reopened the euro corporate bond market following the summer break, Daimler reopened the sterling market. On Wednesday, BMW decided to follow a similar path to Daimler for its own sterling deal, but could not achieve quite the same success.

Telecom infrastructure firm Circet Odyssee has joined the early September pipeline of deals in the euro leveraged loans market with a small tap. It will fund the buyout of Irish peer KN Group, with parent company Advent planning to merge the companies.

Growing fears that the UK could crash out of the EU without a deal are starting to weigh heavily on UK banks. The country’s most prominent issuers are finding it harder to drum up support for their bond deals, as investors find plenty of alternatives elsewhere. Tyler Davies reports.

The euro senior corporate market slowed right down over the summer, but the actual break in issuance was for barely two weeks. For hybrid deals, however, it was nearly seven weeks from the last new issue to Belgian electricity grid operator Elia’s deal this week.

While Brexit negotiations continued and banks juggled their contingency plans for various outcomes, two UK corporate issuers successfully accessed the euro corporate bond market this week.

On Wednesday, UK contract catering company Compass Group joined the euro corporate bond market rush with a new 10 year tranche as well as selling a seven year sterling tranche.

The autumn term has definitely begun in Europe’s corporate bond market. BMW and Daimler, which launched deals last week, may have been the scholarship swots who returned extra-early, but this week the whole sweaty gang of issuers is back en masse, and making plenty of noise.

Russia’s Mechel has signed a $1bn-equivalent loan facility, as the metals and mining group pushes ahead with plans to restructure its debt portfolio by the end of 2018.

The UK’s Octopus Investments has signed a £174m loan package to refinance a biomass and landfill gas portfolio.