ING

Communauté Française de Belgique returned in mid-August after a seventh month absence to print a slew of deals for a combined €404m, according to Dealogic.

Kim Balt, who led ING's equity syndicate desk for 18 years, has joined Avantium, a Dutch company that makes alternatives to plastics from plants.

Ista, the German energy company, has signed a €1.85bn sustainability-linked loan, as interest in this structure among European companies returns to near pre-crisis levels.

Ista, the German energy company, has signed a €1.85bn sustainability-linked loan, as European corporates considering the ESG-linked structure nears pre-crisis levels.

Spain’s Sonnedix, a solar power producer, has signed bank facilities totalling €154m, a day after Moody’s said sustainable project finance has a lower default risk than its conventional equivalent.

Royal Bam group, the Dutch construction company, has negotiated a waiver on its loan covenants before they were due to be tested this week. Some loans bankers say that similar agreements are expected to be made across multiple industries for the rest of the year.

Northvolt, the Swedish battery maker, has signed a $1.6bn credit facility. A range of lenders — from commercial to governmental — piled into the deal, which will effectively create a new industry in Europe.

Phoenix Pharmahandel, the German pharmaceutical company, issued a five year euro-denominated bond on Wednesday, as pharma companies across the credit spectrum continue to hold investors’ attention.

German pharmaceutical company, Phoenix Pharmahandel (Phoenix Group), held investor calls on Monday after mandating banks for a sub-benchmark sized offering in euros. The deal is the latest stab at funding by a pharmaceutical company — a sector which has lured greater numbers of investors thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

The additional tier one market is putting too much emphasis on the risk that banks will try and extend the lives of their bonds, according to Atlanticomnium, suggesting there is plenty of room for the asset class to rally this year.

Tight trading levels will make covered bonds an attractive asset class for statement trades and issuers outside of the euro area, but market participants say that this is unlikely to be enough to lift overall supply volumes out of the doldrums in the second half of 2020.

UBS Group opened books on new additional tier one (AT1) on Wednesday, as it looked to hoover up demand from yield-starved investors in the Reg S dollar market.