Switzerland

Maroan Maizar, the former country head for Deutsche’s capital markets businesses in Switzerland, has joined Kepler Cheuvreux to work on Swiss corporate finance.

Nestlé made its second visit of 2017 to the Eurodollar bond market on Tuesday, issuing a $300m five year that it managed to price 19bp tighter than a similar deal in January.

UBS delivered a 24% return on equity in its investment bank for the first quarter — without the aid of the flattering equity attribution model analysts have criticised in the past. The bank revamped equity attribution this year so that corporate centre does less of the heavy lifting, meaning a 26% increase in equity attributed to the investment bank.

Shares in Lonza, the Swiss pharmaceutical company, closed 3.8% higher on Wednesday after it launched its Sfr2.25bn rights issue to partly finance its acquisition of Capsugel from KKR, having secured approval from its shareholders at its annual general meeting on Tuesday.

Credit Suisse shares closed 2.7% higher on Wednesday after the bank confirmed what had been widely expected: it will conduct its second rights issue in 18 months, and scrap its plan to float its Swiss Universal Bank.

Credit Suisse beat analysts’ expectations and posted a net profit in the first quarter of 2017, while the bank finally ended uncertainty about its capital position, and the possible IPO of its Swiss unit, by announcing plans for a Sfr4bn rights issue.

This week, two large, highly anticipated Swiss rights issues have gone live. One to end capital concerns, and the other to finance an acquisition.

Swiss Prime Site, LGT Bank and the City of Zurich took advantage of a quiet market, placing Swiss franc bonds with domestic investors before Easter holidays.

Credit Suisse and UBS have strengthened their grip in their home market, but with Switzerland leading Europe’s cross-border M&A revival, they face stiff competition from ambitious foreign rivals, writes David Rothnie.

The year's biggest IPO so far in EMEA has also proved one of its most successful. Galenica Santé, the Swiss pharmacies group, attracted over 1,000 investors, priced at the top of its range and rose 10% on its debut.

Swiss steelmaker Schmolz + Bickenbach opened the euro high yield market on Monday with a sub-benchmark sized deal, extending March’s stream of opportunistic refinancing deals.

Galenica Santé, the Swiss retail pharmacies unit of Galenica Group, has increased the size of its IPO and will price it near the top of its initial range.