UniCredit

Three covered bond deals issued by Italian banks in recent days have elicited a mixed reaction from investors, particularly with respect to their value compated to senior unsecured debt.

Unrated German mail order retailer Otto Group found plenty of demand for its debut hybrid bond on Tuesday. Order books were more than twice oversubscribed following a week-long roadshow.

MET Group, the Swiss-headquartered but eastern Europe-focused energy company, has signed a €112m term loan, as part of a wider debt funding drive in which it has recently raised soft currency project financing and a euro revolving credit facility.

The corporate bond market started the week slowly with a pair of well rated German corporates selling two year floating rate notes on Monday. Both had just a sole lead manager.

Italy’s Atlantia has refinanced an acquisition bridge facility with a €1.75bn five year term loan that was priced well below where the company sold 10 year bonds this time last year.

A German sub-sovereign astonished the SSA market this week, selling a 50 year benchmark to show that, despite the expectations of rising rates in euros, some investors at least are still happy to put money into assets at the ultra-long end. Lewis McLellan reports.

The State of North Rhine-Westphalia has launched its first ever 50 year benchmark, coming to market just as Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten landed at the short end.

The State of North Rhine-Westphalia is set to bring its longest ever euro benchmark, as public sector borrowers line up trades across the currency’s curve.

European banks remain divided on whether to make their minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) public, as the Single Resolution Board presses on with informing financial institutions of their first sets of binding targets.

Two German issuers sold corporate bonds on Tuesday and on Thursday, mobile phone operator O2 Telefónica Deutschland made it a German treble the following day.

Two German issuers sold corporate bonds on Tuesday and, after a day many Germans may want to forget on Wednesday, mobile phone operator O2 Telefónica Deutschland made it a German treble the following day.

Italian tyre company Pirelli has launched a Schuldschein after a six year absence from the market. This is a clear illustration, Schuldschein market participants said, of the resilience of the product, versus the shakier backdrop of public bonds.