UniCredit

Berlin Hyp and HVB took advantage of strong market conditions this week to issue to highly successful Pfandbriefe.

Sucafina, a Swiss coffee company, and Suelzle Holding, a German steelmaker, have signed sustainability-linked loans, and bankers say there are more from the region coming to fruition.

Sucafina, a Swiss coffee company, has signed a $500m sustainability-linked borrowing base facility, as a small wave of deals from the German speaking region come to fruition.

Macquarie shed over a third of its order book on Wednesday as it priced its third euro deal in 18 months at what was deemed a “very tight” level. It was joined in the senior market by Swedbank, which was issuing its first callable non-preferred bond.

UniCredit’s new chief executive Andrea Orcel has slimmed down the bank’s executive committee while recognising “frustration” and “confusion” around past decision making at the firm.

UniCredit’s German subsidiary, HVB, enjoyed a stunning investor reception for its negative yielding eight year Pfandbrief that was issued on Wednesday, thanks to the lack of supply this year, the small but rare premium on offer and the superb market conditions.

Suelzle Holding, a German steel maker, has signed a €140m revolving credit facility, as lenders say there are a handful of similar deals in the works for borrowers in the German speaking region.

Europe’s high grade corporate bond market ignored a deeply red day in equity markets on Tuesday, and Volkswagen Leasing and Eurofins Scientific got a decent run at printing new debt.

The spread benefit of ESG-linked debt was on clear display in Europe’s corporate bond market this week. For the second time in days, investors were offered two similar transactions and paid significantly more for the ESG option, in this case a green bond from Red Eléctrica.

A smattering of European investment grade companies are lining up bond issues, as May continues to bring the turnaround in issuance levels that the market had been hoping for in the run-up to the UK bank holiday at the start of the month.

Symrise, a German flavour and fragrance producer, has signed a €500m debut sustainability-linked loan, with the company one of the few to disclose that any margin change due to hitting key performance indicators will be paid directly to charity.

Ceconomy, a German consumer electronics company, has signed a €1.06bn revolver linked to sustainability metrics, becoming the latest corporate to repay state support loans taken out during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.