Pre-migration untagged articles

Finnish energy company Fortum Oyj issued the biggest ever Swedish krona corporate bond on Monday, beating its own record from 2007. Can the market offer Nordic corporates an alternative to euros, or is Fortum just a special case? Read EuroWeek on Friday for more.

Glencore, the mining firm, supplied the week’s Swiss franc highlight, offering investors a new but high-profile name and higher spreads than the thin margins on offer recently. Read EuroWeek on Friday to find out how the deal was received.

Alfa Laval, the Swedish engineering group, is arranging a new Eu265m loan to back its bid for fellow Scandinavian company Munters, as activity in the Nordic sector looks set to soar in the next few months. Danish brewer, Carlsberg, is also looking to arrange a new five year facility refinancing existing debt and firms from the Nordic region could set the agenda for the final quarter of the year. To find out more, read EuroWeek on Friday.

Investors desperate to get their hands on higher-yielding assets have piled into supply from financial institutions this week. Hannover Re, CNP Assurances and Lloyds TSB Bank all had well oversubscribed order books for their subordinated deals in the euro and dollar markets and all have performed well following pricing. To find out whether this trend will continue and who is next, read EuroWeek on Friday.

Renewed fears surrounding European sovereigns have created a get-it-while-you-can attitude among borrowers, resulting in one of the busiest weeks of the year for new SSA issues. Among those already in the market are Italy with a three year dollar trade — the first syndicated European peripheral sovereign since Spain’s 10 year euro blowout back in July — and European Investment Bank with its first 10 year global since 2007. Eksportfinans, Cades, Ontario and Land NRW are also in the market with five year benchmarks Read Friday’s EuroWeek for full analysis of all the transactions on offer.

Scottish & Southern Energy has launched its long-awaited hybrid deal with a dual-tranche euro and sterling deal. The size is small, at Eu300m and £300m minimum, but the stakes are high. Has Moody’s stabilised the market with clearer hybrid treatment? Will more corporate hybrids come when S&S has reopened the market? Read EuroWeek on Friday for a full analysis.

Benchmark covered bond activity continues apace, with four new issues across different jurisdictions already priced this week and Italy’s Banco Popolare today announcing a deal. Supply includes a Eu1.25bn two-and-a-half year Caja Madrid cédulas issue that was the biggest of five Spanish covered bonds launched since the end of August, and a Eu1bn seven year deal for Italy’s UBI Banca. Meanwhile, the UK’s Nationwide Building Society made a strong comeback to the market after a three year absence to sell a Eu1.25bn five year issue. Read EuroWeek on Friday for details of this week’s primary market moves.

OI European Group, a unit of US bottle maker Owens-Illinois, is set to price a Eu500m high yield bond on Thursday in the second large deal to close in Europe’s high yield market this month. OI is a further indicator of a busy second half for the market, which is on track to surpass last year’s Eu38bn record issuance. Read EuroWeek on Friday for a full update on OI’s pricing and all other deals that are on roadshow.

Bookrunners arranging the Eu675m loan backing Lion Capital’s leveraged buy-out of Picard Surgelés launched syndication of the senior debt this week in Paris after receiving early bird commitments last month. Lion Capital has supported the buy-out with an equity contribution of more than 40%. The deal also features a Eu300m underwritten bridge to bond facility — a high yield bond is expected to launch later this month. Read EuroWeek on Friday to find out how the syndication process is going and which deal is launching next.

An experienced senior syndicate banker on Monday returned to the market after an 18 month absence to lead a push into the credit markets by Spain’s BBVA.

An experienced senior syndicate banker on Monday returned to the market after an 18 month absence to lead a push into the credit markets by Spain’s BBVA.

CM-CIC benefitted from a back-up in yields to price the first 10 year covered bond benchmark since June and the first French new issue since the end of the summer break.