UniCredit

Food oil firms Creative Group and Kernel are greasing the way for Ukraine's syndicated loan market to reopen, after violent unrest that began in March caused just $11m of loans to be signed last quarter.

Paper and packaging company Mondi has signed a deal to extend the maturity of a €750m revolving credit facility from 2016 to 2019.

Europe’s corporate bond market was knocked sideways on Thursday by a gust of fear about peripheral Europe, after problems deepened at Portugal's Banco Espírito Santo. The market has not shut down, but ACS, the Spanish construction company, pulled a deal and no issuer managed to price tighter than its initial thoughts.

The Inter-American Development Bank took advantage of strong demand for dollar paper this week to sell its largest dollar benchmark, while Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten also visited the market, suggesting that appetite remains robust despite many investors getting ready to embark on summer holidays.

Italian defence contractor Finmeccanica has signed a €2.2bn revolving credit facility, €200m smaller than the 2010 facility being refinanced.

Three issuers launched covered bonds this week with varying results, which suggested that the converging trend between core and peripheral Europe has stalled. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) struggled to attract anything like the demand seen in its previous covered bond as Portuguese woes outweighed the programme’s rating upgrade into investment grade territory.

Italian defence contractor Finmeccanica has signed a €2.2bn revolving credit facility, €200m smaller than the 2010 facility being refinanced.

A new Italian corporate bond issuer entered the market on Wednesday, as 2i Rete Gas, the second largest gas distribution company after Snam, issued €1.35bn of five and 10 year paper.

Western European lenders had a rare chance to finance drawn debt this week after Germany's FGA Bank signed a €550m three year syndicated term loan.

Acea, the Italian energy and water group based in Rome, issued a 10 year bond on Tuesday, following its more northerly peers Hera and Iren, which have issued respectively a 10 year and a seven year bond since late June.

Iren, the unrated Italian utility based in Reggio Emilia, issued its first public bond on Thursday, a €300m deal, after issuing three private placements in the past nine months.

Symrise, the unrated German flavours and fragrances company, issued a €500m bond on Thursday to help finance its takeover of Diana Ingredients, a French flavourings firm – Symrise’s biggest acquisition.