Nomura

Italy blew the doors off the market with the first eurozone periphery sovereign benchmark in a month. And with extra explosives from the European Central Bank, it may have blown a hole big enough for its peers to pile through, writes Craig McGlashan.

Hellman & Friedman is acquiring a majority stake in the Swedish company Securitas Direct with a €2.7bn financing package involving bonds and loans — but market sentiment remains downhearted.

Japan Post sets sail with IPOs — Datang Environment files in HK — Banpu Power eyes Thai float — Larsen & Toubro seeks $300m listing

A eurozone periphery sovereign drew a hefty book for an inflation linked benchmark on Wednesday, paving the way for other countries from the region to bring deals, according to SSA bankers.

A supranational issuer fell just short of full subscription with a four year dollar deal on Wednesday, as SSAs looked for favourable pricing opportunities with unconventional maturities and short dated floaters.

The Japan Post group has announced price ranges for the long-awaited IPOs of its three units, set to collectively raise ¥1.44tr ($12.03bn) to become the biggest offering this century in the country.

Hellman & Friedman is acquiring a majority stake in the Swedish company Securitas Direct with a €2.7bn financing package involving bonds and loans.

A eurozone periphery sovereign is set to meet investors before a possible euro syndication, as a pair of countries from the region unveiled their funding plans for the rest of the year.

Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien and Banca Carige have mandated leads for covered bond roadshows that will start in early October.

Swedish Covered Bond Corp (SCBC) and Bankinter issued €750m covered bonds this week, but after record issuance, their limp receptions may cause others to postpone funding plans.

Banks have rarely been considered paragons of virtue, but never have they been as vilified as they are today. After the bail-outs, a seemingly endless procession of misconduct has left ethically-minded customers holding their noses while reaching for debit cards. But against the backdrop of scandal and suspicion, banks are doing more than ever to demonstrate to customers that they are doing the right thing. Owen Sanderson reports.

With only $25bn of green bonds issued so far, volumes of SRI instruments in 2015 are a little disappointing. Predictions at the beginning of the year that $100bn of green bonds would be issued in 2015 are likely to be wide of the mark, with many now saying the end of year total could struggle to match 2014’s $37bn. But few in this developing market are downhearted, preferring to see 2015 as a year of consolidation and necessary adjustment as the product reacts to poor general market conditions and begins to mature. In fact, despite the low volumes, progress is being made. The issuer base is beginning to expand beyond the confines of the public sector, as more banks join the list of issuers. Emerging market companies are also turning to the market, such as Brazil’s BRF with a €500m deal in June. Meanwhile, the investor base is growing in a healthy fashion, with Barclays and Deutsche pledging to invest £1bn and €1bn respectively in green bonds. As for 2016, expectations are that volumes will bounce back, with companies and municipalities leading the charge, along with more banks and emerging market issuers from Latin America. These topics and many more were discussed at GlobalCapital’s SRI roundtable in New York in mid-September.