The Netherlands

ArcelorMittal’s $3.015bn rights issue, as part of its $4bn debt cutting plan, was completed oversubscribed, the steelmaker said on Monday, despite the gloomy outlook for the European steel industry.

LeasePlan Corp, the Dutch car finance bank that recently struggled through tough bond market conditions to price a €1.55bn subordinated high yield deal to finance its takeover by a group of institutional investors, had a very different experience on Monday when its first senior bond issue since the takeover was a huge hit with investors.

AkzoNobel, the Dutch paints, coatings and chemicals company, issued a €500m 10 year bond last Friday that achieved a deeply negative new issue premium, as investors piled in ahead of the European Central Bank’s expected corporate bond buying programme.

The remarkable conditions in Europe’s corporate bond market since the European Central Bank trained its quantitative easing firehose on the market were clear again today when Federal Express, the US deliveries group, raised €3bn to finance its purchase of Dutch peer TNT Express.

German wind turbine manufacturer Nordex has become the first borrower to issue an accredited green Schuldschein, leading the way for more deals to come.

Rabobank has announced the sale of a €1bn portfolio of mortgages in a move that has pre-positioned the bank for tougher Basel IV regulations. By the time the rules are in force in Europe though, they may look different, especially for countries that are heavy users of covered bonds.

Dutch lender ABN Amro returned to the Singapore dollar bond market for the first time since 2012, raising S$450m ($331m) with a tier two offering.

Two equity block trades or rapid sales were completed successfully in Europe on Monday night.

Delta Lloyd, which last week won a shareholder vote to execute a rights issue despite public criticism of the deal from some of its investors, on Wednesday released details of the trade.

Covered bond primary activity slowed this week with just two €500m seven year trades emerging from banks in the Netherlands and Italy.

Asia's debt market was crowded on Wednesday with three issuers on the hunt for their respective fundraisings ahead of the Easter holiday.

Sequa Petroleum, the unrated company listed on the Euronext Marché Libre, announced guidance for its $200m secured notes with a double digit yield, a level not seen in the high yield market for more than a year.