Banks

PizzaExpress is looking to raise sterling bonds to refinance its capital structure, after bondholders took control of it last year from Chinese private equity group Hony Capital.

Royal Bank of Canada has sold the third Canadian covered bond in sterling this year, landing its £1.25bn deal at a spread identical to those of its two peers. Meanwhile, Münchener Hypothekenbank is set to join the sterling spree in the coming days with the first fixed rate covered bond in the currency since 2018.

Westpac New Zealand attracted plenty of demand on its rare trip to the senior euro market this week, printing its €750m deal flat to fair value.

France impressed SSA bankers as it paid a tiny new issue premium for a new 30 year OAT via syndication on Tuesday.

A succession of debut labelled deals are filling the FIG pipeline as issuers look to make use of the last window ahead of the summer break. ESG bonds from SpareBank 1 SR-Bank and Banco BPM are set to join the already mandated Banca Popolare di Sondrio and Arion Bank in the market later this week.

UK private equity group Bridgepoint has confirmed its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange.

BNP Paribas sold its first Swiss franc green bond on Tuesday, navigating concerns over the non-preferred format to twice bump up the size of its Sfr230m ($230.8m) deal. It was joined in the market by Pfandbriefzentrale, which printed two tranches of covered bonds.

Santander has appointed a new head of sustainable capital markets in London: Victoria Land, until recently head of APAC sustainable banking at Crédit Agricole in Hong Kong.

India’s Ministry of Steel has kicked off a two-day sale of its shares in National Mineral Development Corp, eyeing at least Rp19.3bn ($260m) in proceeds.

ONGC Videsh, the overseas subsidiary of Indian state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, has launched a $500m loan into general syndication. It is targeting a broad group of lenders for the fundraising, owing to lending caps imposed on banks.

Indian Oil Corp has mandated three banks for its $500m loan return, after inviting firms to bid for the transaction last month.

Citi has hired a senior investment banker from UBS to take over as investment banking head for Italy from Leopoldo Attolico, who is moving into a vice-chairman role.