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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.

Bank of Ireland and Westpac found strong demand for debut green tier two deals this week, as investors flock to this growing segment of the ESG market in search of higher returns.

Europe’s high grade corporate bond investors clamoured for spread this week, with low triple-B rated companies Aker BP and Holding d’Infrastructures de Transport (HIT) finding ample demand a day after Eni had sold hybrid debt.

Europe’s high grade corporate bond investors showed for the second day in a row on Wednesday how hungry they are for spread. Low triple-B rated credits Aker BP and Holding d’Infrastructures de Transport both increased their bond issues after bumper demand.

Bank of Ireland Group was more than three times subscribed for a new tier two on Tuesday, as it followed its domestic peer AIB Group in applying a green label to the asset class.

Iberdrola, the Spanish utility, and Clarion Housing, the UK housing association, became the latest companies to sign loans using risk-free rates instead of Libor, as more deals are signing that ditch the scandal-ridden benchmark from day one.

Iberdrola, the Spanish utility, has signed a €2.5bn sustainability-linked loan, becoming the first Spanish company to use risk-free rates as a benchmark instead of Libor.

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Portugal syndicated a new 10 year bond on Wednesday, and drew parallels to deals from Italy and Spain deals earlier in the year as it aimed for a small new issue premium and an high quality order book rather than one of colossal size. But in order to avoid huge drops in the book by slashing the spread, as Italy and Spain had done, Portugal began the price discovery process at a tight level.

Portugal began the price discovery process for its new 10 year syndicated bond on Wednesday close to fair value in an effort to give as much clarity to investors as possible on the final level, according to lead managers.

Italy and Portugal are the first two eurozone sovereigns out of the blocks for syndications following the Easter break, with the former looking to extend its curve by a further five years.