Santander

Telefónica attracted more than €3.3bn of demand for its longest dated senior euro deal in more than a decade on Tuesday.

Abbey National returned to the sterling senior unsecured market for the first time since 2010 this week. Although the market had softened, the Santander-owned UK bank’s 15 year deal performed well.

Infra Foch, a company formed to buy French car park operator Vinci Park, attracted more than €4bn of orders for a dual-tranche bond market debut on Thursday.

Abbey National returned to the sterling market in senior for the first time since 2010, printing a long-dated deal that was snapped up by investors amid a dearth of senior supply.

Eiffage, the French construction and concessions company, has signed a €1bn five year revolving credit facility with 16 banks. The deal was 25% oversubscribed.

Infra Foch, a new company formed to purchase French car park operator Vinci Park, has mandated banks for a European bond roadshow next week.

Abengoa, the Spanish renewable energy and engineering firm, has allocated a €1.4bn refinancing loan, after issuing a €500m green bond last week.

WHG Treasury, the financing arm of Walsall Housing Group, priced its first bond on Monday, a £250m senior secured issue, of which £75m will be retained. Investors appear not to have been spooked by housing benefit cuts proposed by the UK government at the weekend, as the bond found strong demand and was priced inside guidance.

Yankee heavyweights ING and Santander rounded off a stellar month for US financials issuance with trades that pushed supply beyond $70bn.

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.