Switzerland

Swiss firm responsAbility Investments has closed a $175m microfinance CLO via JP Morgan, revitalising an industry which last saw issuance before the financial crisis.

A refinancing package of €1.23bn has lifted some pressure off Swiss aviation services company Swissport and driven Moody’s to change its ratings outlook on the company from negative to stable. Parent HNA has had a fire sale of assets to combat a cash crunch, and a new portability clause is likely a sign of its desire to exit from the Swiss firm.

With new issue activity in Swiss francs now grinding to its usual summer halt, syndicate managers and investors are bracing themselves for another extension to the lower for longer rates environment.

Cofco International, a commodities trading unit of China’s agri-products company Cofco, has increased its sustainability-linked loan to $2.3bn after receiving commitments from 21 lenders.

Perhaps in anticipation of the summer shutdown, which appeared to have begun this week in the Swiss franc market, the hydroelectric power plant operator, Aarekraftwerk Klingnau (AKA) grasped the opportunity to launch its inaugural senior unsecured bond issue at the end of last week.

Eurochem, a fertiliser company registered in Switzerland, hit screens last week for a pair of rouble-denominated bonds, raising a combined Rb20bn at a level inside its curve.

Royal Bank of Canada and Credit Suisse turned to the euro market this week to launch bail-inable senior bonds, testing market conditions amid European earnings blackouts and before an expected break for the summer.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has hired a senior banker from UBS to manage its equity capital markets business in the German-speaking region.

Having successfully accessed the equity, convertible and AT1 market last week to finance its acquisition of Cashgate, Zurich-based Cembra Money Bank made it a full house on Monday when it added a senior unsecured trade to its summer funding spree.

UBS’s decision to create a global team dedicated to private capital markets is symptomatic of a shift in how companies finance themselves and time their IPOs. With vast pools of private capital available, companies are going public later in their lifecycles, leading to stretched valuations and fewer listed companies. Aidan Gregory reports.

UBS has created a new global team focused on private capital markets, giving it more exposure to a rapidly growing area of finance, as companies go public later in their life cycles and the amount of institutional and private money dedicated to private equity has grown and become more sophisticated.

When the Mont-Soleil solar power plant went into operation in early 1992 it was not just the first of its kind in Switzerland: it was the largest photovoltaic installation in Europe.