SEB

Oil and gas companies are facing the daunting prospect of the world weaning itself off fossil fuels. And this is sparking intense discussions with banks and investors, as these businesses consider how to preserve their access to capital markets.

Municipality Finance will be holding a series of investor calls next week as it looks to issue its inaugural social bond following the publication of a framework earlier this year.

One of the more unusual green bonds of 2019, the $125m high yield issue for Teekay Shuttle Tankers, which operates ships serving the offshore oil industry, was tapped on Friday for $75m under the company's new name of Altera Shuttle Tankers.

Sweden began a series of calls with investors on Wednesday as it prepares to issue its highly anticipated inaugural green bond through syndication later this month.

Northvolt, the Swedish battery maker, has signed a $1.6bn credit facility. A range of lenders — from commercial to governmental — piled into the deal, which will effectively create a new industry in Europe.

The additional tier one market is putting too much emphasis on the risk that banks will try and extend the lives of their bonds, according to Atlanticomnium, suggesting there is plenty of room for the asset class to rally this year.

Smaller loan loss provisions and high capital ratios have helped Nordic lenders to kick off European bank earnings season in a positive fashion. But analysts are cautious about drawing any conclusions for the rest of the sector.

UniCredit attracted plenty of demand for a €1.25bn sale of non-preferred senior debt in euros on Wednesday, as issuers took advantage of strong funding conditions ahead of the summer period.

The Swedish National Debt Office has selected the maturity range for its debut green bond and the banks that will lead the transaction, which will take place via syndication in August.

Borregaard, the Norwegian paper and chemicals company, has signed sustainability-linked credit facilities totalling Nkr1.5bn (€140m), days after Klaveness brought the loan structure to Norway’s shipping industry.

Deutsche Bahn tapped the Kangaroo and Swedish kronor markets on Wednesday after having spent the first half of 2020 focused on the euro market.

Sparebanken Vest Boligkreditt did not need to offer any premium to investors to complete its debut sale of green covered bonds on Wednesday. The deal adds to a recent flurry of socially responsible investments, which are offering financial issuers very competitive terms.