Switzerland

Lonza, the Swiss pharmaceuticals company, completed a 9.4% capital increase through a Sfr865m accelerated bookbuild on Tuesday night led by UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the first step in a two-pronged move to raise Sfr3.3bn for an acquisition.

Shares in Ferrexpo, the Swiss-headquartered iron ore producer active in Ukraine, rose 3.3% on Friday morning after Wigmore Street Investments sold its entire 13.2% stake through an accelerated bookbuild.

Shares in Novartis closed 2.5% higher on Wednesday after it delivered its full year results presentation, in which it announced a share buyback programme and said it was considering options for its struggling eye care division Alcon, which makes contact lenses and eye medicines.

In a relatively quiet week for live equity deals, Novartis, one of Europe’s largest pharmaceutical companies, has said it is considering an IPO or spin-off of its eye care division, and a real estate investment trust announced the year’s first London IPO of significant size.

Investors were clamouring this week to get hold of Credit Suisse’s first dollar additional tier one in more than two and a half years, as the Swiss lender raised $1.5bn of new capital shortly after agreeing to pay $5.3bn to settle a civil lawsuit in the US.

The European Energy Exchange is to introduce a German intraday floor futures contract as well as Swiss day and weekend futures contracts.

European Central Counterparty (EuroCCP) is to become the third central counterparty for clearing services on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

ASB Finance and Met Life entered the Swiss market this week despite them having little need for the Swiss currency in their funding programmes.

The treasury team at BASF, the German chemicals producer, kept up a high level of capital markets activity on Tuesday as it targeted a debut transaction in the Eurodollar market.

Syndication of the acquisition financing loans for Lonza and Sibanye Gold is expected to begin soon, as loans bankers begin 2017 in an optimistic mood.

The Swiss market shed roughly Sfr3bn ($2.93bn) of foreign issuance this year from last year. Expensive basis swaps and cheap funding for investment grade borrowers in euros and dollars drew foreign issuers away. But, if global rates rise next year, the foreign borrowers will return, Swiss bankers say.

Another piece of next year’s equity capital markets issuance puzzle was turned over today, when Lonza, the Swiss pharmaceutical and chemical company, announced a Sfr3.3bn rights issue to pay for the acquisition of Capsugel from KKR.