Nordics

Investors flocked to Nordic and Canadian covered bonds issued this week by DNB Boligkreditt, Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) and National Bank of Canada, perhaps reflecting a view that their spreads are well positioned to withstand the European Central Bank’s withdrawal from covered bond market.

Danske Bank is waiting until activist investor Bill Browder gives a press conference before deciding whether to proceed with the sale of a senior non-preferred bond. News of the conference derailed the deal on Wednesday, after final terms and a $3bn size had already been set.

Anta Sports Products has launched its €2.2bn loan to back the acquisition of Amer Sports Oyj into general syndication, with HSBC joining the bookrunning group.

Appetite for eurozone sovereigns is showing no signs of slowing down after Ireland and Portugal joined Belgium this week in scoring their largest ever syndication order books. Several other borrowers sold euro trades on Wednesday, with more supply expected this week as the pipeline has “accelerated” ahead of next week’s parliamentary vote on the UK’s Brexit deal.

Swedish markets regulator Finansinspektionen (FI) on Wednesday called for lawmaker-backed resolution plans for clearing houses, in the wake of a default at Nasdaq clearing last September.

Sweden’s Modern Times Group has signed more bank funding related to spinning off Nordic Entertainment, as the media company’s talks with PPF to sell its Bulgarian business were scuppered after falling foul of regulators.

DNB Boligkreditt attracted a comfortably oversubscribed order book for its €1.5bn seven year covered bond on Monday, illustrating the market’s sweet-spots for tenor, name and jurisdiction.

The board of Oslo Børs VPS Holding, the Norwegian exchange group, on Friday said that it would consider alternative bids to acquire it, after Euronext outlined terms for a potential acquisition.

Swedish aerospace and defence company Saab has finished its Skr6bn (€581m) rights issue with enough demand to almost cover the deal twice over.

Danish logistics company Maersk opted to please all of its investors who tendered bonds as part of the company’s recent liability management exercise when it announced on Tuesday that it had increased the total amount it would buy back.

Public sector agencies from the Nordic region are adapting to S&P Global Ratings’ overhaul of its rating methodology. So far, only KommuneKredit has been downgraded under the new rating criteria, but others could suffer similar fates.

Ireland and Denmark have outlined their funding needs for next year, with both sovereigns looking to raise similar amounts to 2018.