Norway

Arcus, the Norwegian distiller owned by private equity group Ratos, made its debut on the Nasdaq Oslo on Thursday after its Nkr1.7bn (€196m) IPO that was multiple times covered.

Kommunalbanken raised A$40m ($29.7m) from an Australian dollar tap on Tuesday after sole-arranger Daiwa found two more Japanese life insurers to take an earlier reverse enquiry above the Norwegian agency's minimum size of A$30m.

In another sign of the cautious mood gripping the IPO market in Western Europe, Varta AG, the German microbatteries maker, has called off its €150m Frankfurt IPO. Yet the Nordic market continues to show its resilience, as three successful flotations reach their conclusion this week.

Kommunalbanken added a A$40m ($29.8m) tap to its December 2026 Kangaroo bond on Tuesday, responding to a Japanese life insurer's request.

The IPO of Arcus, the Norwegian distiller owned by private equity group Ratos, is multiple times covered within its revised price range.

The busy equity block trade action, widely predicted by ECM bankers when the US presidential election produced a bounce in share prices, has continued this week with a string of sales totalling over $1.5bn.

Oslo Bors is to change the last trading day of its equity derivative contracts to the third Friday of the month, as the exchange looks to line up with other markets.

One of the last two substantial European IPOs of 2016 looks set to be completed on Friday, when RussNeft, one of Russia’s 10 largest oil companies, floats in Moscow for at least $495m.

Shares in Petroleum Geo-Services, the Norwegian oilfield surveyor, closed 10% higher on Wednesday after the company completed a Nkr1.9bn ($225m) capital increase overnight, to strengthen its balance sheet.

Arcus, the Norwegian distiller owned by private equity group Ratos, opened the books for its Nkr1.5bn ($188m) Oslo initial public offering on Monday and was covered at its maximum size by the afternoon.

Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election went largely unnoticed in key niche currency bond markets on Wednesday morning. Non-core currency bankers were confident pipelines will remain unchanged in Norway, and Switzerland.

Ratos, the Swedish private equity group, has announced plans to list Arcus, the leading Norwegian supplier of spirits and wines, on the Oslo Stock Exchange.