Six months ago, a successful bond issue by an unrated Spanish company would have been unthinkable. However, last month the order book for Spanish technology company Abengoa’s €250m convertible bond was so oversubscribed that the company increased the size of the deal to €400m.
It was the latest sign that Europe's convertible bond market is heating up, with unrated issuers attracting yield-hungry investors with bonds that can convert to equity at maturity.
