Greece

Alpha Bank, the Greek banking group, has begun bookbuilding for its €800m share sale intended to strengthen its balance sheet as it enters a new stage of growth following the clean-up of Greece’s banking sector since the eurozone crisis.

Rating: Ba3/BB/BB

Investors had plenty of appetite for a super-high yielding additional tier one from Piraeus Bank this week. Will they still be hungry when Greek banks try and issue large volumes of senior debt for their regulatory requirements?

Greece and NRW.Bank added to the week’s primary euro public sector supply on Wednesday ahead of a closely watched European Central Bank governing council meeting on Thursday.

Piraeus Bank is monitoring market conditions for an additional tier one (AT1), which would be the first deal of its kind out of Greece. The issuer no longer requires as much debt capital following a share capital increase late last month. It had thought it would need as much as €600m in AT1 format.

While Greece is nearing a return to investment grade status it still has a way to go before it reaches that summit, according to the major credit agencies.

Greece sold the first and only public sector benchmark deal of the week on Wednesday. However, issuers are preparing to return in force in euros and dollars next week, according to bankers.

Greece was the only public sector borrower to announce a new benchmark transaction on Tuesday, picking banks to lead a new five year syndicated deal.

Greek banks are making the most of exuberant conditions in the financial markets in 2021, with Eurobank spying a golden opportunity to return to the senior FIG bond market this week. The next milestone is the country’s first additional tier one and, having just breezed through an equity raise, Piraeus is a prime candidate to open the market. Frank Jackman and Sam Kerr report.

Equity investors showed they were stepping up in numbers to invest in primary growth capital raises across Europe after Elkem, the Norwegian silicone manufacturer, raised $228m-equivalent and Greek bank Piraeus completed a €1.38bn raise to help clean up its non-performing loan book.

Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Tuesday, March 23. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services.

Greece has struggled with the colossal challenge of rehabilitating its capital markets reputation since its debt crisis in 2009. But last week, it took a big step forward, returning to the 30 year tenor for the first time in well over a decade. Dimitrios Tsakonas, head of the Greek Public Debt Management Agency. told GlobalCapital about the journey the PDMA has undertaken.