UniCredit

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.

After utility companies dominated the investment grade benchmark corporate bond market last week, Iren followed this week with a debut green bond that was priced tight to its secondary curve.

Is this bond expensive or are BTPs cheap? That was the question investors considering Wednesday’s debut corporate bond issue from Italian supermarket chain Esselunga had to answer. But there was more to come as an Italian high yield borrower also raised funds at sub-2% writes Nigel Owen.

The Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia came to market for its longest ever bond on Thursday, raising €1bn with a 40 year transaction in a market that “just can’t get any hotter”, according to a banker at one of the leads.

Shares in Varta, the German maker of micro-batteries for hearing aids and wireless headphones, closed 15% higher on Thursday after the company priced its €203m Frankfurt IPO at the top of the range.

Salini Impregilo, the Italian construction firm, printed new bonds with a coupon under 2% on Thursday, becoming only the third high yield borrower to duck under the hurdle this year.