UniCredit

Several major Italian ECM deals are set to move forward in the next few weeks. Saipem, the oilfield services company, will open subscription for its €3.5bn rights issue on Monday January 25. And Veneto Banca is set to announce in the next couple of weeks more detail of its €1bn capital increase and flotation, to be completed in April.

Covered bonds issued this week from Lloyds and Bank of Nova Scotia were among the largest seen this year and attracted the biggest order books.

Five issuers from core Europe priced covered bonds this week but the standout success, which could have been priced without the European Central Bank’s help, was the first Austrian deal of the year from Erste Bank.

Republic of Poland

A series of oversubscribed deals among core issuers could encourage Austria to seek a print in the current market.

Chemicals group ChemChina will use the proceeds of a bridge facility to support its €925m acquisition of German manufacturer KraussMaffei Group, announced on Monday.

Trafigura, the Singapore based commodity trader, launched a $4.3bn loan refinancing on Thursday as it looks to improve terms off the back of a standout year in 2015.

Telecom Italia brought the first telecoms bond deal of the year to the European market on Wednesday, tapping both high yield and investment grade investors.

Poland and Chile dived into the market this week, printing the first CEEMEA and Latin America bonds of the year.

The European Financial Stability Facility and Nederlandse Waterschapsbank on Tuesday brought euro benchmarks in five and seven year maturities. Now much more at those tenors is expected.

Investors barely charged Mediobanca and Royal Bank of Canada on Tuesday for printing new five year senior bonds.

Prosafe, which provides offshore accommodation for oil rigs, announced on Tuesday that it had negotiated changes to the terms of loans signed less than 12 months ago.