UniCredit

Dutch grid operator Stedin and French utility Suez offered investors more of the same when they tapped into what has been strong demand for longer dated corporate bonds on the same day, but found that appetite is starting to wane.

The European Investment Bank achieved very tight pricing for the launch of its first sustainability bond on Thursday, in a sign that the exhaustive marketing it had done for the €500m deal had succeeded. The EIB sees this new product line as a way to influence market practice in the direction of clear explanation of sustainability goals and indicators.

Amadeus, the Spanish IT company that provides systems for the air travel industry, sold its fourth deal in as many consecutive years on Thursday. The new deal was its first multi-tranche offering and the eight year tranche was the longest the company had offered to date.

Spanish telecoms company Telefónica sold its second euro-denominated senior bond of 2018, benefitting from one its quietest years of issuance with a single digit new issue premium.

Italian gas distributor 2i Rete Gas has dared to test the corporate bond market’s appetite for issuers from the country with a seven year trade. With its government budget on the horizon, some market participants said this deal could make or break the market for Italian issuance in 2018.

Germany’s Cheplapharm Arzneimittel has signed €780m of loans, with the pharmaceutical company using the funds to refinance debt and fund acquisitions.

Aston Martin, the UK maker of luxury cars, has launched one of the most highly anticipated London IPOs in recent years, having announced its intention to float on Wednesday morning.

The autumn term has definitely begun in Europe’s corporate bond market. BMW and Daimler, which launched deals last week, may have been the scholarship swots who returned extra-early, but this week the whole sweaty gang of issuers is back en masse, and making plenty of noise.

Intesa Sanpaolo issued a €1bn senior bond on Thursday as it looked to get ahead of other banks, while its main competitor, UniCredit, considers doing more this year.

Russia’s Mechel has signed a $1bn-equivalent loan facility, as the metals and mining group pushes ahead with plans to restructure its debt portfolio by the end of 2018.

Banks with major exposures to Turkey were getting hammered after a loss of financial market confidence pushed the country towards a crisis at the beginning of the week. But analysts suggest that any fears of contagion into the European banking sector are overdone.

Turkey’s self-inflicted problems have had ramifications well beyond its borders and led to comparisons with previous emerging market crises.