According to data from Reuters distributed to banks in the past week, Barclays led with $4.4bn across 28 USPP deals in 2018 while Natwest arranged 27 deals totalling $4.08bn.
US banks followed in the rankings: Citi ran 21 deals for $3.57bn, JP Morgan 14 deals for $3.03bn and Bank of America 16 deals for $2.47bn.
UK banks have not always topped the charts. According to one USPP agent in London, Bank of America and JP Morgan came first and second in 2015, while Bank of America was also top in 2016.
“US banks have lost a little ground in cross-border as UK issuance has increased,” said a USPP investor.
The total volume of UK issuance of USPPs in 2018 was roughly $15.1bn, the highest in at least the past five years, according to Barclays data. As a proportion, this accounts for roughly 21% of 2018’s overall volume.
Many of the larger transactions were run by the UK banks. Thames Water was one such borrower, pricing one of the largest US private placements of the first quarter of 2018, at $985.5m equivalent in dollars and sterling, via Barclays, Natwest and SMBC.
Cleveland Clinic raised £665m for a UK facility across 30 to 50 year maturities last August, according to Dealogic, with Barclays as the sole arranger. Barclays was also the only arranger on London Metric’s £150m transaction last year, as well as a £135m trade for Newlon Housing Trust.
“The UK banks are generating a lot of business at the moment, and they have a keen eye for new names to introduce to the market,” said the investor. “They have the biggest teams here in London, the best relationships with the borrowers and the best sense of the UK market.”