Spain

Private equity firm CVC and local investor Alba are funding their €3.8bn acquisition of 201m shares in Gas Natural, the energy group, with a €1.9bn loan, which is set to become one of the largest Spanish financial deals of the year.

Six of the nine investment grade corporate new issues in the last week of February were announced with a three letter acronym that, while providing clarity, served to frustrate investors keen to see greater volumes of issuance. WNG stands for “will not grow” and this week told investors that the meagre sized deals would not be increased, irrespective of demand.

Ignacio Blasco, who was a leveraged finance banker at Société Générale for 12 years, has joined investment bank Houlihan Lokey after a short spell in direct lending.

Five new investment grade corporate bond deals were priced on Tuesday and, while pricing was competitive, none of the issuers allowed for any growth in the size of the deals as all five used a no-grow strategy.

Orders peaked at more than €3.4bn for BBVA’s five year non-preferred senior deal on Tuesday, with floating rate notes starting to prove popular among both investors and issuers.

Spanish insurance firm Mapfre has amended and extended a €1bn syndicated loan, adding two years to the maturity and a sustainable financing element that could lower the cost.

Rating: Baa2/BBB+/A-

Italy could retrieve half of the basis points it has lost to Spain in the run-up its general election next weekend — if the vote returns the most market-friendly result, according to a portfolio manager at a leading investment house. Spain, meanwhile, printed a 30 year benchmark with the second largest book ever for a euro sovereign deal in the tenor — another sign that the country is marching towards or already at semi-core status, said bankers.

Ence, the Spanish biomass energy company, finalised a €160m equity-linked bond on Thursday to fund the voluntary redemption of an earlier straight bond.

Spain’s first trip to the long end of the curve in almost two years met with an overwhelming response, as the sovereign received one of the largest books ever for a 30 year bond.

Spain has picked banks for its second deal of the year, looking towards the long end of the curve for the first time since May 2016.

Santander's co-head of FIG trading has left the bank. GlobalCapital understands.