UniCredit

Italian business software vendor TeamSystem returned to the public bond market to refinance a floating rate note it placed privately in 2016, as high yield fund managers increase their demand for floating rate debt this year.

The auto finance arm of General Motors opted for shorter maturities to try to ensure the success of its first bond sale of 2018 on Monday. But the €1bn dual-tranche deal only received orders of €1.7bn and the lead managers were only able to tighten one of the tranches from initial price thoughts.

Russian gold miner Nordgold and coal company Siberian Coal Energy Co (suek) signed syndicated loans in the week leading up to Vladimir Putin’s victory in the Russian general elections.

Guarantor: Federal Republic of Germany

Corporate bond issuers who sold their deals earlier the week found execution much easier than those who came later in the week. Strong order books and single digit new issue premiums gave way to premiums of as much as 20bp and one deal having to be downsized.

Spanish telecoms company Telefonica announced the sale of new hybrid issues this week while also tendering for several of its outstanding hybrids. After more than a month since the last benchmark euro hybrid issue, investors contributed to an order book exceeding €4.5bn.

The potential end of eurozone quantitative easing may be leading to sleepless nights for some, but top tier SSAs are welcoming the slow return to historically normal rates. KfW this week sold its first five year euro benchmark with a positive yield in nearly three years, welcoming back investors that had gone elsewhere in search of return — and auguring well for future euro issuance from the sector.

Books closed on the IPO of Siemens Healthineers, the healthcare technology division of Siemens, on Thursday lunchtime, with the base deal valued at €3.65bn and the company at €28bn.

Vonovia, the German housing company, issued €2.1bn of bonds on Thursday to finance its €5.2bn acquisition of Austrian peer Buwog, which was announced in December.

KfW built a towering book in the five year part of the euro curve on Wednesday with a deal that SSA bankers away from the trade said probably attracted heavy French demand. The agency’s choice of printing just €4bn from a book of over €8bn should ensure a tightening of its curve, they added.

Sanofi, the French pharmaceutical company, priced on Wednesday the largest corporate bond deal so far in 2018, an €8bn six-tranche deal. The company regularly uses a multi-tranche approach to the market, but this was its largest deal so far in any currency.

The IPO of Siemens Healthineers, the healthcare technology division of Siemens, is covered throughout its revised price range, according to a banker involved in the transaction.