Santander

Santander raised €7.5bn of equity capital in a block trade on Thursday January 8, the biggest ever outside the US, to put its core equity tier one ratio up to 10%. The deal was priced at the low end of the discount range and led to a very steep fall in Santander's share price the day after – yet won some admiration from rival banks.

Banco Santander leapt into an equity market this week that was otherwise empty of deals with a €7.5bn accelerated bookbuild, which bankers expected to be a huge success and an inspiration to other issuers.

Banco Santander leapt into an equity market this week that was otherwise empty of deals with a €7.5bn accelerated bookbuild, which bankers expected to be a huge success and an inspiration to other issuers, writes Olivier Holmey.

The Epiphany holidays in Europe on Tuesday may have disrupted the issuance calendar for the week, but that didn’t stop issuers from printing over €15.5bn of senior unsecured debt in just two days on Wednesday and Thursday.

Barclays Bank re-opened the primary covered bond market on Monday by issuing a £1bn ($1.51bn) three year sterling benchmark, and was followed by a pair of Canadian borrowers.

In the first subordinated FIG deal of the year, Crédit Agricole Assurances, the wholly owned insurance subsidiary of Crédit Agricole SA, has launched an eleventh hour attempt at getting grandfathering for hybrid capital deals that aren’t compliant with new Solvency II capital rules.

Danone, the French foods group, became the first European corporate bond issuer of 2015 on Wednesday, and attracted exceptionally strong demand for a €550m five year floating rate note and a €750m 10 year fixed rate bond.

Abbey National and Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel have opened up 2015's market for fixed rate senior unsecured bank bonds, offering investors longer tenors than the three floaters from other issuers also in the market today.

The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulatory Authority released the results of its latest round of stress tests this week, revealing that of the eight largest UK banks and building societies only the Co-operative Bank had ran afoul of its adverse scenario. Bankers and analysts have taken the results as a sign that the UK’s financial system is robust, though some have warned that future stress tests may become trickier to navigate.

UK based bio-pharmaceutical company Shire signed a $2.1bn loan last week. The five year loan has two one-year extension options and comprises multi-currency revolving and swingline facilities.

Gamesa, the Spanish wind turbine manufacturer, has signed a €750m syndicated revolver with a single bullet repayment in December 2019. The banks are the same as those on Gamesa’s loan signed in March, except for Bankia, which is no longer participating.

Medtronic grabbed the record for the biggest high grade corporate bond issue of 2014 this week, as investors returned from their Thanksgiving breaks keen to put cash to work in one of the busiest weeks of the year.