Switzerland

Zur Rose, a Swiss online pharmacy group, revived the primary equity-linked bond market in Europe this week, issuing a debut Sfr175m five year convertible bond as demand for its services increases amid the Covid-19 crisis.

The volume of new euro senior debt sold by banks has hit €10bn this week, following deals from Barclays, Credit Suisse and NatWest Markets on Thursday. Yield and spread levels remain high, but market participants have been delighted to see investors throwing their confidence behind new transactions in the middle of the coronavirus crisis.

SIG Combibloc, the Swiss food and beverage packaging company, took advantage of strong demand among ECM investors to price a Sfr539.6m ($564.1m) block trade, growing the deal in the process.

Three banks seized a favourable backdrop in the bond market to sell senior bonds this week, finding a warm welcome for maturities from three to six years.

Swissport is looking to reprice its existing €850m term loan and add on another €50m, in a test of market appetite to tighten terms for companies with owners outside the top tier group of sponsors. The refi comes as reports suggest HNA Holdings, the Chinese conglomerate, is once again looking to sell the company after talks last year collapsed.

Swiss bank UBS priced two block trades in companies on Thursday night, despite wider market concern over the spread of a deadly strain of coronavirus.

Credit Suisse secured the lowest spread for a Yankee bank referencing the secured overnight financing rates (Sofr) on Thursday, breaking the previous record set just over a week ago.

UPC, part of Liberty Global’s European telecoms empire, is marketing dollar and euro term loan ‘B’s to pay off a $1.14bn issue of 5.375% senior secured notes. The refinancing comes only a few months after Sunrise cancelled its takeover of UPC’s Swiss business — to the disappointed of Liberty.

Credit Suisse became the first issuer of additional tier one (AT1) paper market in dollars this year, seizing the high levels of appetite for this asset class to print through fair value.

Lombard Odier Investment Managers has appointed Alex Maubourguet to take charge of its new absolute return strategy.

Shares in Schmolz + Bickenbach, the Swiss steel maker, surged 9% on Friday after the company said it is due to price its Sfr325m rights offer at Sfr0.30, the top of the range, securing its future after a long period of underperformance.

The Swiss franc bond market has been able to withstand — just — the destructive forces of negative rates and yields and is looking forward to a new year in which green structures are set to blossom. Philip Moore reports