Portugal

Portugal syndicated a new 10 year bond on Wednesday, and drew parallels to deals from Italy and Spain deals earlier in the year as it aimed for a small new issue premium and an high quality order book rather than one of colossal size. But in order to avoid huge drops in the book by slashing the spread, as Italy and Spain had done, Portugal began the price discovery process at a tight level.

Portugal began the price discovery process for its new 10 year syndicated bond on Wednesday close to fair value in an effort to give as much clarity to investors as possible on the final level, according to lead managers.

Italy and Portugal are the first two eurozone sovereigns out of the blocks for syndications following the Easter break, with the former looking to extend its curve by a further five years.

The head of the Portuguese treasury and debt management agency (IGCP) said she supports France’s novel approach of engaging with investors to tackle the problem of inflated orders.

EDP Renováveis, the Portuguese renewable energy company, priced a €1.5bn capital increase on Tuesday night. The trade will help the company fund expansion and attracted strong demand, but it had to offer a big discount as fears over rising bond yields continued to cast a shadow over the sector.

Rating: Baa3/BBB/BBB

Banco Comercial Portugues made a rare foray into the senior market on Friday, enticing investors with a bit of extra yield on its speculative grade transaction.

Three eurozone sovereigns all extended their euro curves with huge order books for syndicated transactions this week in a sign of rampant investor appetite for long-dated debt.

Banco Commercial Portugues is planning to build out its debt stack with a preferred senior note, which should have value for the minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL).

Portugal was awash with demand as it came to the market on Wednesday for a new 30 year euro benchmark, following well-received syndicated deals from Belgium and Finland on Tuesday.

Portugal mandated banks on Tuesday to lead the sale of a new 30 year bond as it looks to pounce on the strong investor appetite in the long end of the euro curve.

A €534m block in Energias de Portugal, the Portuguese utility company, flew off the shelves on Thursday night driven by investor demand for stocks exposed to renewable energy.