Nordea Markets

Borrowers and investors marched on in the European leveraged finance markets this week, pricing €1.5bn of high yield bonds while bankers have been able to tighten terms on new loan deals during syndication. Deals pulled earlier in the week in the US are already a fading memory.

Danish power company Ørsted has wasted no time in issuing under its new name after leaving the Dong Energy brand behind earlier in November. On Thursday the issuer sold a green hybrid and a green senior bond, as well as announcing a tender offer for its shorter dated bonds.

A rush of consolidation has swept through Europe’s payments processing industry in the past six months and the financing for two of the deals, the acquisitions of Nets and Paysafe, hit the leveraged finance market this week.

Subordinated bonds from financial issuers have been back in favour in the Swedish krona market this year, with investors seeking out higher yields compared with other types of credit.

Is demand in Europe’s leveraged finance market so strong that a single-B rated borrower could raise €3.5bn of high yield bonds and loans, and use some of the cash to fund the largest dividend recapitalisation of the year? Verisure began marketing such deal this week, and many investors appear to like it.

In a new sign of how hot Europe's leveraged finance market has become, Verisure, the Swedish security systems company, is seeking to raise €3.5bn of bonds and loans, partly to fund the market's biggest dividend recapitalisation this year.

Oslo-listed oil and gas exploration firm Aker BP raised Nkr4.1bn ($500m) through an accelerated bookbuild, to fund its acquisition of Hess Norge, the owner of two Norwegian oil fields.

Industrial & Financial Systems (IFS) closed the loan funding for its acquisition of WorkWave without further syndication on Wednesday, evidence the market is still keen on small size offerings amid a raft of large deals.

The Joint Laender printed €1bn of 10 year paper on Tuesday, filling the book unusually quickly for a Laender deal. The deal was joined in the market by a European Union (EU) tap of an April 2031 line.

Norwegian state owned grid operator, Statnett, priced its debut benchmark euro corporate bond on Wednesday, continuing the recent supply of utility issuers selling longer dated new issues.

The European Union (EU) is set to tap an April 2031 line on Wednesday, coming on the heels of KfW five year benchmark on Tuesday, that raised €3bn.

Finnish property company, Mercada, was a lone issuer in the corporate bond market on Monday. Its €175m five year deal q was printed while issuers that completed roadshows last week paused.