Santander

Tuesday had been a slippery day in the European corporate bond market, as a fall in equities caused two new issues to find underwhelming demand – a knock-on effect that has not happened for a long time. But by Thursday that was all forgotten. Four deals were launched, three of them triple-B rated and three of them 10 years, and all went well.

Acquisitions announced on Monday by Siemens, Merck and Arkema marked the continuation of a wave of European investment grade acquisitions, with varied outcomes for syndicated loan financing.

Orange, the French telecoms company, showed the potential of the hybrid capital market for financing mergers and acquisitions today, when it raised €3bn towards its €3.4bn acquisition of Jazztel, just eight days after announcing the bid. Orange did not use a bridge loan for the deal.

Vallourec’s bond issue may have gone well today, but for the other corporate issuers in euros and sterling it was a much rougher ride. Accor launched a €150m tap and RCI Banque a £250m sterling three year – but neither managed to tighten pricing from their initial thoughts.

Vallourec, the French oil and gas pipeline maker, issued a €500m 10 year bond on Tuesday after building a book of €3.1bn, despite a jittery day for the equity market.

Monday was a soft day for equities and credit spreads, but BP had little if any hesitation in launching its second large euro bond of the year. The UK oil company’s deal was the eighth big dual tranche deal in euros since BMW set the fashion on August 26.

Abengoa, the Spanish renewable energy and engineering firm, announced a roadshow on Monday for a green bond – the first in euros for a high yield issuer.

Diageo, the UK alcoholic drinks group, was named by research firm CreditSights last week as one of the European consumer goods companies most exposed to risk from the Scottish independence referendum.

The covered bond market for sterling FRNs picked up on Monday as Barclays priced the largest ever deal in the currency and Danske Bank priced a benchmark. The two borrowers follow Nordea Eiendomskreditt, which attracted robust demand last week.

Europe’s corporate bond market delivered on bankers’ and investors’ hopes this week, as issuers belted out €13.2bn of deals, pushing this week — by a €20m margin — into the top 10 of the market’s busiest weeks ever.

Société Générale followed up Monday’s rush of subordinated deals with a self led euro benchmark 12 year non-call seven year tier two deal and initial price thoughts offered a chunky new issue premium.

The heavy flow of European corporate bond issues that bankers have been predicting for September began in earnest today, showing that the market’s strength has been no idle boast. Investors swallowed five roadshowed deals in euros and sterling and Vodafone launched a two tranche issue without warning. All were gobbled down with ease.