Italian Sovereign

The board of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the world's oldest bank, is considering a capital increase to cover its entire €2.1bn shortfall, flagged up by the comprehensive assessment last week.

China’s Bright Food, which announced in October that it was acquiring a majority stake in Italian olive oil manufacturer Salov, is wrapping up a loan of around €120m ($152m) with three lenders.

The Province of Trento’s funding arm Cassa del Trentino came to market early with a long dated medium term note to take advantage of strong performance in Italian government bonds. Meanwhile, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti mandated banks for a roadshow.

Gruppo Sostenya’s subsidiary Waste Italia is hoping to issue its first bond late next week, once it has completed a roadshow that began on Monday in London with Jefferies as bookrunner.

The European Central Bank’s covered bond purchase programme entered a new phase this week as eurozone issuance enabled it to buy the primary market, rather than relying on secondary where supply is drying up. Its buying is good news for peripheral banks but may cause investors to desert the core.

Italian SSAs drew a mixed bag this week, as one sub-sovereign outlined plans for a long dated deal, while the Italian government’s borrowing costs rose in a series of auctions except a sale of 10 year debt — which only the vagaries of the repo market kept in check.

For the first time the European Central Bank waded into the primary market for covered bonds for its third purchase programme (CBPP3) this week, as eurozone issuers from the currency bloc’s core and periphery returned after a long hiatus. The central bank’s buying may not be so good for core issuers but the evidence so far suggests peripheral names who have been locked out are about to bask in its largesse.

Italy’s state-owned radio and television station Rai set on Wednesday the price range for the initial public offering of its broadcasting arm, Rai Way.

The Province of Trento's funding arm is set to bring a 20 year medium term note to market in the coming weeks, following a €150m deal from earlier in the month.

GTech, the Italian gambling technology firm that used to be called Lottomatica, has slimmed down its $10.7bn bridge loan for its acquisition of International Game Technology of the US to $10.2bn.

Italy is set to take a hit on its funding costs at an auction of medium to long term bonds on Thursday, as the sovereign has failed to fully recover from a violent jump in yields two weeks ago. If yields rise as analysts expect, it will be the third day in a row that Italian funding costs have risen at auction, following a bill sale on Wednesday and an offering of zero coupon and inflation linked paper on Tuesday.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, formed after a merger earlier in the month, is set to float its stake in luxury brand Ferrari as part of a shake-up of the firm.