Pre-migration untagged articles

Covered bond analysts are forecasting benchmark covered bond issuance in the range of Eu140bn-Eu170bn in 2010, below 2006’s record levels but up on this year’s total supply and approaching that of 2007.

Investors in the EMTN market were hungry for interest rate structures in dollars this week after a stronger than expected non-farm payroll number in the US last Friday (December 4) pushed up yields.

Apax Partners has bought healthcare company Marken Group for £975m in a secondary buy-out — a move which has cheered the deal-starved leveraged finance markets, which can expect a financing for the deal next year. Meanwhile, the Carlyle Group is looking to buy Shanks Group for around £535m. Read EuroWeek on Friday for the market reaction

Rail freight operator Globaltrans priced a $159m share placement that underlines equity investors’ readiness to look at Russian stocks. On Friday EuroWeek examines the potential for the Russian market in 2010.

All year Greece has faced downgrades, speculation that it would default on its debt and/or pull out of the euro. This week, with a Fitch downgrade to BBB+ negative outlook and S&P’s A- rating put on CreditWatch negative, fears have got closer to becoming reality. Read EuroWeek on Friday for views from investors, analysts and bankers on Greece’s prospects of raising the Eu50bn and more it needs in 2010.

Swedish mobile company HI3G Access is rounding off its year with a Skr10.5bn refinancing which has got strong market support. The lack of loans activity in the quiet December market led to the deal being more than 45% oversubscribed, with all 19 participants having their commitments scaled back. To find out more about this deal and all the others in the market, read EuroWeek this Friday.

The fast moving situation in Dubai is approaching its first test on Monday, when Nakheel’s $3.5bn sukuk matures. Turn to EuroWeek this Friday for the latest on what the market thinks of the options ahead.

Wind Telecomunicazioni, the Italian mobile phone operator, hopes to sell a Eu500m payment in kind (PIK) note, the first in Europe since the credit crunch, by the end of this week. The return of this more aggressive structure to European high yield comes in one of the market’s busiest weeks for issuance, with borrowers including Rexel and Infinis. Read EuroWeek this week to find out more.

Société Générale is set to issue a three year FRN in euros on Wednesday. Books had reached over Eu1.6bn, half an hour before they closed, and the spread has been set at the tight end of the guidance, at 30bp over three month Euribor. It follows on from Credit Suisse’s Eu1.75bn floater and BPCE’s tap of its FRN last week, both of which proved very popular with investors. To find out what the latest issue means for the FRN market read EuroWeek on Friday.

Pfandbriefbank schweizerischer Hypothekarinstitute took advantage of tight spreads in the Swiss franc market to raise Sfr435m (Eu308m) on Tuesday afternoon, in what is expected to be its last issuance of 2009.

UBI Banca tackled the complications of launching a new issue close to year-end to price a Eu1bn 10 year mortgage-backed covered bond on Thursday.

The US House Financial Services Committee agreed this week to send its financial reform bill to the floor of the House, paving the way for a vote late next week.