Coronavirus

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a “quantum” change in the amount of capital required to finance development, according to the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

France impressed as it received a record €51bn order book and paid a small new issue premium with its first syndication since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The sovereign was joined in the long end of the curve this week by two sub-sovereign borrowers as investor appetite for duration grows, with more supply expected to follow.

JDE Peet’s, the coffee business owned by JAB Holdings, closed the books on its IPO after an accelerated roadshow that lasted only three days. The transaction still attracted huge demand from investors eager to buy into the only sizeable IPO in the market.

The Belgian region of Wallonne took advantage of the growing demand in the long end of the curve to sell its first social bond on Thursday, although it had to pay a chunky new issue premium to do so. Elsewhere, Bpifrance received plenty of demand to print €1.25bn with a 10 year trade.

Cineworld announced on Thursday that it had raised on extra $110m of liquidity by extending its revolve. Its lenders also agreed to waive the covenant test for the end of June. The company also plans to tap government lending schemes in the UK and US.

Germany would be wise to consider diversifying its colossal funding needs with a syndication in dollars — a currency in which it is no stranger and which has become more attractive for euro-based funders, according to a head of public sector debt capital markets at one of the sovereign’s primary dealerships.

Bonds issued by Spanish gambling company Cirsa have rallied on expectations of support from owner Blackstone, after it disclosed on its investor call that affiliates of the private equity firm had bought €120m of its PIK notes in the market — even though the purchase does nothing to boost the firm’s liquidity profile.

Insurance company Phoenix Group Holdings launched a tier two in the dollar market on Thursday in a refinancing exercise, making use of favourable conditions across the board with a "well received" trade. But the issuance raised some concerns regarding the company’s plans to deleverage after its acquisition of ReAssure.

JDE Peet’s, the European coffee conglomerate listing in Amsterdam, is shutting IPO books after just three days of book building — an extraordinarily quick execution period for what is likely to be Europe’s largest IPO this year.

Swissport, the baggage handling and air cargo group, is asking bondholders to allow it to add €380m of super-senior debt above its existing senior secured bonds and loans, secured by the same collateral but with a priority claim.

Syndication of the £4bn bridge loan backing the merger of UK mobile phone company O2 — owned by Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica — with Liberty Global’s Virgin Media cable business was signed on Thursday.

A strong bid from ESG investors helped Latin American development bank Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) to €700m of social bond issuance on Wednesday as the multilateral looks to fund its efforts to support the region through the Covid-19 crisis.