Switzerland

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

Struggling Swiss steelmaker Schmolz + Bickenbach has launched an emergency rights issue after the Swiss market regulator FINMA approved it on Monday.

Investors piled into the blocks market on Tuesday night in a rare accelerated trade in Flughafen Zurich AG, the owner and operator of Zurich airport.

Swiss Pfandbriefbank issued a Sfr1.1bn (€1bn) three part deal on Monday which was notable for both its size and the tight spread achieved.

Demand for green issuance outweighs supply in Swiss francs, said bankers after Swiss Life raised Sfr600m last week in a deal that saw all three of its tranches increased to their maximum size and priced at the tight end of the guidance range.

Hungry investors gulped down a Sfr420m block trade in shares of Sig Combibloc, the Swiss food and beverage packaging company, on Wednesday night after banks allowed shareholder Onex Capital to sell shares early.

Swiss investment firm Jacobs Holding has trimmed its stake in chocolate maker Barry Callebaut, via an accelerated bookbuild and a simultaneous private placement.

David Miller has become the new chief executive of Credit Suisse’s investment banking and capital markets (IBCM) unit, replacing James Amine.

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB, A2/A-) delivered on its objective of further diversifying its funding profile this week when it returned to the Swiss franc market for the first time since a Sfr100m issue in May 2015, which is set to mature next month.

Dufry, the world’s largest travel retailer, issued €750m of senior unsecured notes on Wednesday to buy back its outstanding €700m of 4.5% notes, due in 2023, and pay back a small slice of its revolver.