UniCredit

Volatile markets all this week did not deter German car parts maker Mahle from issuing a bond on Wednesday, and it drew plenty of interest for a new seven year print.

UniCredit has appointed a global head of equity capital markets, filling a position that has been vacant since Christian Steffens moved internally to become head of financial institutions group last February.

News reports on Monday afternoon that Greece had authorised a debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund are likely to help clear out some of the corporate bond market’s busy pipeline.

Swiss cement maker Holcim is in a stand-off with its relationship banks over whether it can receive negative interest payments on its Swiss franc revolving credit facility, amid deeply negative interest rates, writes Elly Whittaker.

Halkbank - ArcelorMittal - Yapi Kredi - Xella - Nordic Cinema

Bankers are preparing the ground for the first Turkish covered bond with Akbank and Garanti Bank lining up for issuance. Pricing for both will be wide of the sovereign and the banks are preparing extensive investor roadshows. While funding officials are confident that the bonds will sell well, syndicate bankers question whether they will find a substantial buyer base.

Xella, the German building materials manufacturer, has closed books on a €533m refinancing and amend-and-extend loan procedure that was oversubscribed, allowing for price cuts.

Harman International Industries, a US maker of audiovisual equipment, has hired banks for its first euro bond, having previously issued only in dollars.

A triumphant first Grüner Pfandbrief has snapped the covered bond market out of its recent decline, bringing new buyers to a product that many investors abandoned this year as the European Central Bank’s purchases crowded them out, writes Bill Thornhill.

Rating: A3/-/A-

Dufry, the Swiss travel retail group, has closed the term loan stage of its bridge loan takeout. The facility is oversubscribed and likely to come at a large size.

UniCredit has merged loan and bond syndicate and loan and bond origination into a single primary markets debt platform, to be headed by Marco Bales.