UniCredit

Amprion, the German electricity transmission firm, is looking to raise €100m with the Schuldschein product as well as the Namensschuldverschreibung (NSV) — a similar instrument that is registered and can have a maturity longer than 10 years.

Bonds issued by Italy’s most prominent banks surged in value on Wednesday, after S&P upgraded the credit ratings of 11 of the country’s financial institutions.

Corporate hybrid bond investors have been heavily scaled back on their recent orders for new deals, so they will have been pleased by French laboratory testing firm Eurofins Scientific's Halloween Tuesday announcement mandating for its latest deal.

A benchmark deal from 2i Rete Gas, rated Baa2/BBB, was not in the same league as the storming transactions the corporate bond market saw on Monday. Those involved felt they were a day late arriving at the party.

Wind Tre, the Italian telecoms group, delivered Europe's largest ever high yield bond issue this week, a €7.3bn deal that has raised the bar for the market and led to expectations that more sponsors will follow suit amid heady investor demand.

UniCredit will upgrade its representative office to a branch in Abu Dhabi to focus on transaction banking and financing in euros and dollars.

Ringier, the Swiss media company, launched a €50m Schuldschein on Tuesday that is expected to attract a wider range of investors than its first outing in the market last December, a successful €50m issue.

The European high yield bond pipeline this week brought €1bn of single-B rated offerings in euros and sterling from new issuers, giving hope to those working for a bigger borrower base for the market.

Euro corporate bond issuance was much cooler on Tuesday after Monday’s fireworks. “Maybe everybody parties on day one and is a bit hung over on day two,” mused one syndicate banker.

Wind Tre, the Italian telecoms company, issued its €7.3bn senior secured bond deal on Tuesday, a day ahead of schedule, and priced all four tranches at the tight end of guidance.

A new bond refinancing deal for German fashion company Takko will provide a welcome boost to triple-C bond volumes, although it is not clear whether the deal will pave the way for a wave of risky credits to return to the high yield market, bankers said.

With asset prices inflated to levels that would have seemed impossible a few years ago, capital market participants are looking forward to the European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) eventual exit from its quantitative easing (QE) programme with a mix of hope and dread, writes Lewis McLellan.