UniCredit

Achmea, the Dutch insurance holding company, has signed a €1bn sustainability-linked refinancing loan, in what one bank said was the first deal of its kind in the country's insurance sector.

Two Turkish borrowers hit the market on Thursday, following in the wake of a Koç Holding trade earlier in the week and making it Turkey’s busiest week for deals in almost three years.

Conditions in the primary market have been nothing short of remarkable towards the end of February, with cash-rich investors chasing down new issues and letting banks get away without paying premiums. But FIG bankers say that there is one section of the market that is unlikely to be allowed to join in the party: Italy’s second tier banks. Tyler Davies reports.

Trumpf, a family-owned mechanical engineering company headquartered near Stuttgart, has launched a triple-tranche Schuldschein.

PlayTech, the UK-based gambling technology company, announced its second high yield bond issue on Tuesday afternoon, seeking to raise €350m to redeem an out-of-the-money convertible bond issued in 2014. During the roadshow, it confirmed a new contract with UK gaming group GVC, which helped it print tight in a market that was already supportive.

Central bank governors, chief executives, fintech pioneers and bankers met at the GCC Financial Forum hosted by Euromoney in Bahrain's capital Manama to discuss the reinvention of financial services and its impact on markets. Low oil prices and fiscal dilemmas across the region have not deterred capital market participants from robust activity, as investors and lenders exude confidence in the capacity of regional banks to incorporate financial innovation into their products.

UniCredit’s German subsidiary, HVB, attracted much more demand for a €500m tap of a 10 year benchmark on Wednesday than when the bond was originally issued in January. Not only that but it did so at a tighter spread and new issue concession. The strong execution underscores just how much market sentiment has improved.

ThyssenKrupp, the German steel and engineering company, has raised €1.5bn in the corporate bond market, despite downward pressure on its credit ratings as it prepares to spin off its capital goods business later this year.

Italian auto finance bank FCA Bank found the feelgood factor in full effect on Friday as market participants suggested it priced a new three year deal more than 40bp tighter than if it had sold the same deal at the start of the year.

BBVA did not have to offer any premium to investors to bring in a new tier two bond on Thursday, according to lead managers, as asset managers show renewed thirst for debt from southern European financial institutions.

German car leasing company Sixt has launched a Schuldschein with an initial size of €200m, according to two Schuldschein market participants.

Italy’s UniCredit was able to raise €1bn of new tier two capital without having to pay a large premium on Wednesday, adding to recent evidence that the subordinated debt market is in rude health.