Switzerland

In a week shortened by a public holiday, the only borrower to put its head over the parapet in the Swiss franc bond market was Pfandbriefzentrale der Schweizerischen Kantonalbank, the issuance vehicle owned by Switzerland’s 24 Cantonal banks.

In this round-up, former Bank of China chairman Chen Siqing has been moved to be chairman of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.4% and the first batch of funds keen to invest in Shanghai tech board listing have received approval to do so

Eurex, the futures and options exchange, has pointed to low volatility and the upward trend for global share prices in its latest update on the derivatives market.

Raiffeisen Switzerland chalked up a notable first for Swiss francs on Monday when it priced the market’s inaugural sustainable bond. Endorsed by a second-party opinion from ISS-Oekom, the Sfr100m ($99m) five year issue was priced at mid-swaps plus 43bp, for a yield to maturity of 0.06%.

Shares in Stadler Rail, the Swiss maker of rolling stock, gained as much as 12.9% in trading on Friday after it priced its Sfr1.33bn IPO at a discount to its Swiss industrial peers.

Commerzbank analysts had been expecting a “very constructive market” in Swiss francs this week, bolstered by supportive cross-currency swaps and an uptick in the secondary market. It is questionable, however, if anybody foresaw the explosion of volume on Tuesday, when more than Sfr1bn ($997m) of new issuance had been priced by early afternoon.

Shares in Medacta Group, the Swiss maker of orthopaedic devices controlled by the Siccardi family, rose in the aftermarket on Thursday morning after a popular Sfr547m IPO that has been described as “textbook” by a banker at one of the global coordinators.

Medacta, the Swiss maker of orthopaedic devices, has covered its Sfr550m IPO within the revised price range on the penultimate day of the bookbuild, according to a banker involved in the deal.

The IPO of Stadler Rail, the Swiss train manufacturer, is already covered after opening the books on its Sfr1.4bn IPO on the SIX Swiss Exchange on Monday morning, according to a banker involved in the deal.

Abegg Holding, the Swiss family office for Annina Müller‐Bodmer, gave the market an extremely rare liquidity event on Monday night by selling its entire stake in Huber + Suhner, the Swiss maker of fibre optic cables, for Sfr152m ($153m) following a prolonged share price rally.

Medacta, a manufacturer of orthopaedic devices, was covered within hours of setting the terms on its Swiss IPO, valuing the company at up to Sfr2.08bn.

Stadler Rail, the Swiss train maker, is gearing up for an IPO on the SIX Swiss Exchange in April, having filed an intention to float document on Tuesday.