Santander

A spectacular spectrum of FIG issuers stormed into the bond markets this week as the European Central Bank’s latest round of stimulus squeezed spreads tighter and investors finally caved in to the bulging pipeline of deals. With Easter fast approaching, there is little sign of issuance slowing, writes Tyler Davies.

Anheuser-Busch InBev took Europe’s rocking corporate bond market to another level on Wednesday, as the Belgium headquartered brewer raised the largest ever euro-denominated corporate bond.

Commerzbank launched a €1bn 10 year tier two transaction first marketed in January on Wednesday, as investors continued to commit in large numbers to new subordinated bank debt offerings.

There has been €6.5bn of euro FIG supply across most asset classes in the first two sessions this week, with issuers riding a turnaround in sentiment after the European Central Bank announced more monetary stimulus last week.

Santander brought peripheral bank capital back to the FIG market on Tuesday, as the recent rally showed little sign of wearing off following last week’s European Central Bank meeting.

Two UK funds have acquired a stake in one of the largest onshore wind farms in the country, Clyde Wind Farm. There is a healthy pipeline of utilities M&A according to one investor, which would be a boost for infrastructure loans.

After a string of strong syndications and auctions from the eurozone periphery during the last seven days, issuers from the region could be set to enjoy even lower yields thanks to the latest monetary stimulus package from the European Central Bank.

After over a month with no Obligations Foncières supply, Caisse Française de Financement Local (Caffil) and Compagnie de Financement Foncier (CFF) returned to the primary covered bond market on Monday.

Lenders and bondholders representing 40% of Abengoa’s creditors joined efforts on Thursday with the company’s founding family, the Benjumeas, to present a rescue plan of a name that has become Spain’s most infamous borrower of recent times.

All bonds great and small from the Iberian market were available on Tuesday, as the Spanish sovereign brought a long-awaited 30 year syndication and the Community of the Basque Country made a rare visit to the market.

Public sector borrowers from the eurozone periphery are preparing a flurry of issuance in the next few days, with one still smarting from a change to its rating outlook late last week.

UK metering services company, Smart Metering Systems (SMS) has signed a £150m club loan and increased the deal size to take advantage of a government scheme to boost smart meter installation.