UniCredit

Italian media firm Gruppo Editoriale L’Espresso raised €100m through a convertible bond on Wednesday, seizing excitement around southern Europe to price at the best terms for the issuer despite the small size of the deal.

Slovenia shaved another few basis points off its euro curve with a €2bn dual tranche bond issue this week. The sovereign’s well timed transactions in dollars and euros have helped some of its existing notes rally by almost 10 cash points in just two months, reflecting investors’ increasing confidence in Slovenia.

Slovenia drew almost €10bn of orders for a long three year and seven year euro bond issue on Tuesday, which catered to investors comfortable with duration and those more concerned about rates.

Commodities trader Trafigura Beheer has signed oversubscribed revolving credit facilities totalling $4.74bn from 51 lenders.

It is not every day that two of the top Belgian corporate credits are in the bond market on the same day, but that happened on Wednesday. As one banker joked, the Belgian corporate market had been boosted by President Obama’s visit to Brussels that day.

After a two week hiatus, the additional tier one market has rebooted with Italy’s debut AT1 issuer UniCredit printing a $1.25bn trade at 8% — a level that partly reflects a new equilibrium in the asset class, after investors pushed back over successively tighter and tighter prints.

Rating: Aa1/AA-/AAA

Banco Santander Totta this week returned to the covered bond market after a four year absence, choosing a three year maturity and a spread that ensured it was an easy choice for risk-averse and yield-hungry investors alike. The €1bn deal is likely to replace central bank funding.

Syngenta, the Swiss agricultural chemicals group, enjoyed keen demand for a rare bond issue on Monday, thanks to its strong ratings and scarcity as a borrower.

Italy’s UniCredit is about to become the first bank to sell an additional tier one deal since KBC Group’s transaction pushed market boundaries two weeks ago. UniCredit's deal also follows a period of repricing during which investors have pushed back on yields.

Creatrade Holding, the German fashion retailer owned by Silverfleet Capital, has successfully refinanced €105m of loans.

Europe's financial institutions debt market was a little softer in synthetic indices as this week began, but that has not kept issuers from pricing and planning deals.