German Sovereign

The syndication of German pharmaceutical company Merck’s $15.6bn of loans for its acquisition of US life sciences firm Sigma-Aldrich has closed oversubscribed, with banks eager to accept a large portion of the bridge facilities.

United Internet, the German internet services provider, closed the €1.35bn loan for its acquisition of Versatel on Wednesday and left the path open for a Schuldschein transaction for banks that did not make it into the syndication.

A cacophony of troublesome macro conditions are rocking the markets and could make issuance exceptionally tricky for issuers looking to print dollars in the coming weeks. A pair of borrowers felt the pain on Wednesday, with their leads setting pricing in line with initial price thoughts and at least one of the deals undersubscribed — a far cry from a series of blow-out dollar trades since the market reopened after the summer.

Germany has signed comprehensive economic agreements with China worth $18.1bn as part of premier Li Keqiang's European tour, while Russia has obtained an Rmb150bn swap line. The Russian financial sector, including the Moscow Exchange and lender VTB, has also stepped up its China relationship with a number of co-operation agreements.

ZF Friedrichshafen, the German car parts maker, has closed the books on the syndication of its €12.5bn loan for the acquisition of Michigan-based TRW Automotive.

Deutsche Bank made a surprise visit to the primary market with a tap of its 1.25% €1.75bn September 2021 senior unsecured bonds on a day when cash bonds are trading wider and bank equities are largely tanking.

German semiconductor maker Infineon has signed €1.55bn of loans which will go towards its $3bn purchase of California-based International Rectifier Corp.

Scarcity value helped German media group Bertelsmann attract more than €2bn of demand for a new 10 year benchmark on Wednesday.

Although this week’s primary covered bond supply was limited to three deals and the near term outlook is limited by AQR results and Q3 reporting blackouts, demand reached a substantial €5.4bn of orders. Notable activity included the first public sector issue under Belgium’s covered bond law and the tightest ever Canadian euro print.

Deutsche Wohnen, the German residential property company, has agreed loans totalling €1.36bn with two German banks, completing a €1.76bn refinancing process that began with its €400m seven year convertible bond issue at the beginning of September.

Bertelsmann, the German media group, made a rare return to the bond market on Wednesday with a new 10 year benchmark.

The syndication of €1.38bn of loans for German internet service provider United Internet is expected to close oversubscribed next week.