UniCredit

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.

The Joint Laender printed €1bn of 10 year paper on Tuesday, filling the book unusually quickly for a Laender deal. The deal was joined in the market by a European Union (EU) tap of an April 2031 line.

On Wednesday, Italian supermarket chain, Esselunga, became the first non-utility issuer to sell a benchmark corporate bond since Iliad’s €650m deal on October 5. The company’s debut deal saw one tranche priced at a lower yield than Italian government bonds.

Italian telecoms firm Wind called on the high yield market on Wednesday, as it planned to refinance most of its debt with a dual currency five tranche offering, deploying 20 bookrunners in the process.

The European Union (EU) is set to tap an April 2031 line on Wednesday, coming on the heels of KfW five year benchmark on Tuesday, that raised €3bn.

Hapag-Lloyd, the German container shipping company, has raised €352m to reduce its debt after its one-for-14 rights issue won a high take-up from its shareholders.

CMA CGM, the French container liner, priced its first bond issue on Tuesday after improving on its triple-C ratings. Investor demand was enough for the issuer to double the size of the deal.

All four investment grade benchmark corporate bond deals that priced last week were from utilities. On Tuesday, Italian multi-services utility, Iren, and Dutch grid operator, Stedin, took the count to six.