Barclays

Shares in Watches of Switzerland, the UK luxury watch retailer, surged in the aftermarket on Thursday after the company priced its £220m ($277.46m) IPO a day early in the upper half of the price range.

Crédit Agricole has hired a former Barclays DCM banker for its corporate DCM desk.

Trainline, the UK transport booking website, said on Tuesday that it plans to raise £75m of new capital, having confirmed its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange.

Airtel Africa, the African subsidiary of Indian telecommunications conglomerate Bharti Airtel, has announced its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange, paving the way for a multi-billion pound IPO that will allow its parent to raise funds to reduce its debt.

Sellers of the IPO of Trainline, the UK transport booking website, are confident that the listing is a strong enough prospect to withstand any political pressures affecting the UK, including a Labour government intent on nationalising the country’s railways.

Online education platform GSX Techedu has launched the deal roadshow for its New York Stock Exchange IPO, in which it is targeting proceeds of up to $227.7m.

Tata Motors Finance, a subsidiary of India’s Tata Motors, is tapping the offshore market for the first time as it looks to close on a $60m facility.

Guarantor: Swedish local government members

Latin America bond bankers hope that more Mexican companies will look to sell new debt after Televisa clinched a tight price for its 30 year bond this week to wake up the country’s dormant primary market.

A weakened corporate bond market on Thursday did not dissuade Telenor, the Norwegian telecoms company, from issuing a €2.5bn triple tranche deal. Competing for investors' attention was unrated Symrise, the German flavours and fragrances group, which managed to slash its pricing by 25bp-30bp without losing investors.

Shares in Serco, the UK outsourcing company, rose more than 8% on Thursday morning after the company announced a £130m growth capital raise to finance the takeover of Alion’s naval design and systems engineering business, a leading supplier of services to the US armed forces.

Barclays plans to follow Crédit Agricole and Handelsbanken into the Kangaroo bond market. The UK lender mandated leads for a deal on Wednesday after the other two banks brought deals on Tuesday.