Raiffeisen Bank International AG

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) could give investors their first chance to invest in a new additional tier one (AT1) deal, after two weeks in which the asset class went through its first write-down and coupon suspension.

Increasing numbers of commercial banks are investing in seven year Schuldschein loans, as attractive pricing and allocation is luring the lenders further along the credit curve.

GarantiBank International (GBI), a Dutch subsidiary of Turkiye Garanti Bankasi, has signed a $250m loan that was oversubscribed by 19 banks, according to a banker on the deal.

Andritz, the Austrian machinery maker, raised €400m in a dual tranche Schuldschein transaction this week. The large size — with tenors of seven and 10 years — illustrates commercial banks' growing willingness to lend for long.

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) began gauging investor interest for the IPO of its Polish unit on Monday, via Citigroup and its own investment bank as leads.

Belarus will hit the road next week for a dual tranche dollar offering, in what could be its first successful attempt to access the market since 2011. Its economy is expected to contract 0.5% in 2017.

Oil and gas company MOL became the first Hungarian issuer in the Schuldschein market this week. And, as the market expands further from Germany, there is no sign that credit quality will become less central to an issuer’s success.

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Digi Communications, the fast-growing Romanian telecoms and media group, has successfully completed a €190m IPO, the first from the country this year, despite being hit during the bookbuild by news that some of its senior executives were being investigated for bribery and money laundering, and the fact that voting rights remain controlled by the founder.

A fresh IPO launch broke the quiet in the pre-Easter European equity capital market this week: and a very unusual one — the first Romanian flotation of the year. Digi Communications, a leading telecoms and media group, wants to float 25% of its equity in Bucharest.

With just over three weeks to go until Easter, the latest wave of IPOs in EMEA is progressing well. One deal was priced on Tuesday and bookbuilds have begun for two more.

There were four equity block trades in EMEA on Tuesday evening, the largest of which was a capital increase by Carl Zeiss Meditec, the German medical technology company.