UniCredit

An investor relations manager at Banca Popolare di Vicenza told GlobalCapital on Thursday that the bank still intended to launch its IPO in early April, and to complete it by the end of the month. He called a UniCredit statement casting doubt on that timetable unhelpful.

German wind turbine manufacturer Nordex has become the first borrower to issue an accredited green Schuldschein, leading the way for more deals to come.

Russian container terminal operator Global Ports Investments has mandated six banks for its debut Eurobond and is embarking on a roadshow for the deal. The last time a debut issuer from the country tapped the bond markets was in 2013.

ChemChina will choose the banks to participate in the $20bn tranche of its Syngenta acquisition loan imminently, according to a banker close to the deal.

Consolidation has been a perennial theme in Italian finance, but the country has little to show for it. This time is different.

German chemicals company BASF printed a €300m tap of existing notes on Tuesday, clinching a low single digit concession for the deal.

Trafigura, the commodity trading company, cut the margin of its European loan in its latest refinancing to the lowest level since before the global financial crisis, but also received fewer commitments.

A $400m loan for Turkish industrial holding company Borusan is very near completion. The deal is a rare Turkish corporate syndicated loan but many of the lenders are still domestic banks, according to one banker.

Banco Popolare and Banca Popolare di Milano will merge to form Italy’s third largest bank by assets, having been granted permission by the European Central Bank on Wednesday evening. The deal may trigger further consolidation in Italy, and is could be a crucial step towards the modernisation of the country’s fragmented banking sector.

Covered bond primary activity slowed this week with just two €500m seven year trades emerging from banks in the Netherlands and Italy.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles issued €1.25bn of unsecured bonds on Wednesday, the second crossover deal in the European corporate bond market this week.

Russian mining firm Metalloinvest has closed a $400m pre-export finance facility (PXF), with two banks coordinating. But the bank list and pricing have not been disclosed, leaving uncertainty over the wider lending appetite for the deal and sector.