UBS

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 euro high yield market closed the week before the Easter break in strong form, with bonds from Burger King France and Colfax, the US gas company.

Bank of China hit Asia's debt market hard on Tuesday, unleashing a huge deal spanning four currencies and six tranches. The $3.1bn-equivalent deal was designed to make a statement to the market that it should not forget China’s Belt and Road initiative, DCM bankers said. Morgan Davis and Addison Gong report.

Chinese corporates and FIGs contributed to most of the primary supply in Asia DCM on Tuesday, with China Oil and Gas Group, Yida China Holdings and Citic Securities snapping up a combined $1.45bn.

The slightly softer tone in the Asian markets on Tuesday did not deter issuers from flocking to the debt market, with as many as eight borrowers bagging new bonds. And the momentum continued on Wednesday, with a handful of firms opening their transactions.

Swiss Prime Site, the Olten-headquartered property company, was gifted the full attention of the Swiss market on Tuesday, offering a nine year bond with a healthy new issue premium.

Bank of China launched its multi-currency, multi-tranche transaction on Tuesday morning, as Citic Securities also opened books for two tranches of dollar notes.

Asia’s primary DCM market is busy on Tuesday ahead of the long Easter weekend, with Lianyungang Port Group, China Oil and Gas Group, Yida China Holdings and Golden Wheel Tiandi Holdings Company opening books for their respective dollar bonds.

Shares in Gestamp Automoción and Banca Farmafactoring, which had performed poorly on their first day of trading after their IPOs on Friday April 7, steadied this week, providing relief to equity capital markets bankers anxious to avoid poorly performing deals putting off investors.

LGT Bank, the private bank owned by the ruling family of Liechtenstein, returned to the Swiss bond market on Monday, opening a new 10 year line in francs.

Bain Capital and Cinven have agreed to buy Stada, the German generic pharmaceuticals firm, for €4.1bn, in the biggest private equity acquisition of a European company for four years.

UBS has appointed May Yan as a managing director to lead its equity research coverage of Greater China financials, according to a memo seen by GlobalCapital Asia.