UniCredit

Romania has released initial price guidance for a dollar bond offering around a 30bp-40bp pick-up over its outstanding curve, according to a banker away from the deal.

The Republic of Croatia pulled pricing for its €750m 2.7% 2028 bond 30bp tighter than initial price guidance on Wednesday, bringing the reoffer spread nearly flat to the outstanding curve.

The Federal State of Berlin printed a 15 year trade on Wednesday — its first €1bn bond since 2015, according to Dealogic. The trade was joined by a five year from Corporación Andina de Fomento.

The Republic of Croatia released initial price guidance for a 10 year bond on Wednesday morning and books for the deal are already in excess of €1.3bn.

Rentenbank on Tuesday sold what Dealogic data shows is its largest ever euro benchmark, while the State of North Rhine Westphalia visited the long end of the curve.

Carrefour, the French supermarkets group, sold Europe's second corporate bond deal of the week on Tuesday, as the market slowly recovered from the volatility of the previous week. There still remained some nervousness around market conditions, however, so Carrefour had to ensure it offered investors a healthy premium.

A report that UniCredit is considering a merger with Société Générale — which would create a powerful champion in European corporate debt — provoked strong feelings among capital markets specialists on Monday. The story appears to have taken UniCredit’s management by surprise, just after a bruising period for Italy in capital markets. But although some like the idea in principle and others scorn it, none believe a merger at some stage is impossible.

The State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Land NRW) hit screens on Monday to announce a long dated euro benchmark.

Financial institutions are waiting for an all-clear signal in the primary market for unsecured debt, after an Italy-led meltdown cast new issue execution and pricing in doubt this week.

Investors and analysts are assessing Italian banks in light of the fall in their capital ratios resulting from their exposure to sovereign debt.

Hera, the Italian utility, has signed a green revolving credit facility, laying claim to bringing the first such deal from the country, amid a wave of environmentally conscious loans spearheaded by southern Europe.

Bond market havoc following the Italian president’s decision to appoint a technocratic government has shut the euro market for most public sector borrowers. Volatile swap spreads are making issuance near impossible, while an “enormous” flattening in Italy’s curve is of particular concern for that sovereign, said one head of SSA syndicate.