Barclays

The UK’s Synthomer plans to raise €600m through a revolving credit facility and privately placed notes, as the unrated chemicals company looks to refinance existing bank debt early.

Barclays has named Steve Ewart chief financial officer for Barclays Bank plc, the group company that now houses the CIB division, Barclaycard, and the private bank and overseas services, subject to regulatory approval. The firm also named Steve Penketh COO for Barclays International earlier this year.

The Loan Market Association has recruited a trio of loan market stalwarts to its board after its AGM this week. MUFG’s Mathias Noack has retained his place as chairman.

The market for equity block trades in EMEA has lost some of its shine, with volumes down on last year, and a string of failed trades. This poor performance is in stark contrast to a resurgent IPO market, which in the last two weeks has generated strong returns for investors.

French toll road operator Autouroutes du Sud de la France kept up the positive tone in the IG corporate bond market with a 10 year deal on Thursday, which it was able to increase in size and price with a single digit new issue premium.

Barclays has regained its mojo in corporate finance, after a period of drift. But with a flagging share price and an activist investor snapping at its heels, it's a race against time, writes David Rothnie.

BMC Software, the US IT firm, has revealed the loan leg of the funding for its leveraged buyout by KKR, a $4.4bn facility in dollars and euros. It is the first multi-billion leveraged loan deal for four weeks, after a battery of large offerings early in May.

German pharmaceutical company Bayer delivered on its plans to raise more than €20bn in senior bonds with an eight tranche dollar deal on Monday and a four tranche euro transaction on Tuesday. The dollar deal was three times oversubscribed and the euro deal nearly 4.5 times.

Chinese education firm Puxin popped on its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange last Friday, and has stayed strong since, after pricing its IPO at the bottom of the marketing range.

Five borrowers helped to contribute to a heavy deal pipeline for acquisitions and refinancings this week, as secondary spreads tightened after last week's no issuance.

Rating: Aa3/—/—

UK banks may have to reassess the make-up of their capital structures after the Bank of England said this week that it could slap a higher minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) on groups with regulatory debt sat outside the main resolution entity.