Spain

After a string of strong syndications and auctions from the eurozone periphery during the last seven days, issuers from the region could be set to enjoy even lower yields thanks to the latest monetary stimulus package from the European Central Bank.

BBVA priced a well oversubscribed €1.25bn seven year with barely any new issue concession and a long way through the Kingdom of Spain’s spread.

Lenders and bondholders representing 40% of Abengoa’s creditors joined efforts on Thursday with the company’s founding family, the Benjumeas, to present a rescue plan of a name that has become Spain’s most infamous borrower of recent times.

All bonds great and small from the Iberian market were available on Tuesday, as the Spanish sovereign brought a long-awaited 30 year syndication and the Community of the Basque Country made a rare visit to the market.

Moody’s on Tuesday cut the rating of Obrascón Huarte Lain, the Spanish construction company which last week tried to repay a €300m 2020 bond to rein in its debt.

BBVA returned to the covered bond market for its first deal since November 2015, pricing a well oversubscribed €1.25bn seven year with barely any new issue concession and a long way through the Kingdom of Spain’s spread. The transaction followed one from Toronto Dominion, which on Monday became the first Canadian bank to issue in the US dollar covered bond market this year.

Public sector borrowers from the eurozone periphery are preparing a flurry of issuance in the next few days, with one still smarting from a change to its rating outlook late last week.

Spain’s troubled renewable energy multinational Abengoa told GlobalCapital on Monday it could announce a joint plan with creditors to avoid bankruptcy as soon as this week ­— some 15 days before its March 28 deadline.

Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, the Spanish construction company, said on Thursday that it had received a 99.72% take-up on its €710m rights issue, which was placed without banks. But the market will have to wait till next week to find out how large Carlos Slim’s stake in the firm is now.

Santander Consumer Finance added to a run of FIG Swiss franc issuance this week, printing just its second bond in the currency.

Telefonica’s €600m equity-neutral convertible bond, launched and priced on Wednesday, proved controversial and had to be restructured mid-sale, highlighting the discomfort many investors feel with some of the currently fashionable CB structures.

A group of four banks have launched a $300m three year bullet that marks Santander Consumer Finance’s (SCF) debut in the Asian syndicated loan market.