The Berkeley Group, one of the UK’s biggest home builders, found the pulse of the sterling bond market on Wednesday, two weeks after some bankers had declared the market dead until the autumn.
There are growing calls to build all-encompassing regulatory structures around environmental, social and governance ratings and disclosures. This is the wrong course of action and will undermine efforts to achieve the overarching goal, which is fighting climate change.
With many issuers electing to frontload their funding this year, the summer period seems likely to be even quieter than usual. Last year, for example, the SSA market hosted three deals in the last week of July. This year, there were none.
NatWest Group said on Friday that the “reshaping” of its investment banking arm, NatWest Markets, would be largely complete by the end of the year, after it moved a further 500 staff out of NWM in the second quarter.
Strategic Value Partners has closed its fifth special situations fund at its hard cap of $5bn, as it tries to differentiate itself from other distressed debt funds through direct sourcing.
It has been an earnings season of rebounds. UBS, the first of the European investment banks to report its results for the second quarter of the year, used the word “rebound” three times in its earnings report, which it published on July 23. Since then, BNP Paribas has pointed to an “established rebound” in its results while HSBC has reported a “rebound” in profits in the US and Europe.
The number of industry sectors for which Moody’s holds a positive outlook reached a record high halfway through 2021, but investors say that there are some parts of the economy that the coronavirus pandemic has forever damaged.
Delta Fiber, a Dutch fibre optics company, has secured a credit line of up to €2bn, it announced on Monday. The loan carries a tenor of seven years.
Aggreko, a Scottish company which offers temporary power, heating and cooling generation, has signed £2.5bn worth of loans to fund its acquisition by TDR Capital and I Squared Capital.
Berenberg has hired a fourth senior equity syndicate banker to cover France and southern Europe, amid big plans to expand its investment banking business, with new offices and teams in Brussels and Stockholm.
Nordea Asset Management has appointed a new head of high yield, as its former head Torben Frederiksen left the company on Friday.
The Bankers Investment Trust, a London-listed investment trust which traces its origins back to 1888, has sold a £74.5m-equivalent private placement. While there are slim pickings for PP investors looking to lend to financial institutions in Europe, investment trusts have provided a steady stream of opportunities.
Korea Midland Power Co steered its $300m bond through tough market conditions on Monday, having little option but to offer investors a premium to ensure decent secondary performance of its notes.
Sports teams could be among the Covid-battered industries looking to tap the capital markets later this year and next, bankers believe, as Italy’s elite Juventus Football Club prepares for a €400m rights issue to repair its finances.
Europe’s manufacturing sector faces a supply chain problem, with production struggling to cope with booming demand as economies reopen. Fixed income investors and analysts reckon this will likely be a temporary issue, and there is plenty of room for performance in bonds from the manufacturing sector.
Though deals are not coming in thick and fast, a prospective issue from Altice International will keep the high yield market busy for the first few days of this week.
The Schuldschein market is counting on a late summer pick-up in issuance to make up for a barren first half of the year. If deals do not pick up, the market could reach only €14bn of issuance in 2021, half its volume in 2017.
Nivaura, the fintech firm seeking to digitise primary markets using blockchain technology, has appointed a new chief executive officer.
Across the world’s financial centres, summer interns and graduate trainees are taking their first steps in investment banking. But has the jobs market changed? Is investment banking still the draw it was?
German filter maker Mann+Hummel has closed its innovative Schuldschein, which had both green and sustainability-linked components, at €150m-equivalent in dollars and euros.
The Berkeley Group, one of the UK’s biggest home builders, has mandated for a green bond, a week after high grade corporate issuers faced such a torrid time in the sterling market that some bankers called the market shut until the autumn.
Acme Solar Holdings was one of the few borrowers in Asia to brave volatile market conditions on Thursday to sell its debut dollar bond.
Credit spreads for corporate borrowers from sectors that will benefit the most from reopening from lockdowns are drifting wider as coronavirus infections rise thanks to the spread of the delta variant. Industries already battered by the pandemic face a rough autumn in capital markets if there is another major global wave of the virus.
It’s time for investors to pressure borrowers to emphasise Scope 3 emissions if they want to make the difference to climate change they claim they do.
Hightown, a housing association located north of London, has agreed a £100m unsecured green private placement, suggesting a modest growth in appetite for unsecured investment in the sector.
Sustainable bond volumes are tipped to top $850bn this year after a record first half, despite the pricing benefit versus conventional debt all but evaporating in recent months.
After several quarters of strong performance among European investment banking businesses, there are signs that firms are satisfied with cost cutting measures and are prepared to resume investment instead.
Aligning with a global commercial bank has been on Jefferies’ agenda for several years, but its alliance with SMBC signals an intent to join the investment banking big league. By David Rothnie.
Lloyds Bank has formulated a succession plan to prepare for the departure of Allen Appen, its head of bond financing, as another senior figure prepares to leave its debt capital markets group.
A major capital markets body published its final standard for using term Sonia reference rates on Wednesday, as the remaining pieces of the Libor transition puzzle fall into place before most pairings for the benchmark end on December 31.
Barclays has made several further promotions across its capital markets and M&A teams in London and New York, a week after rolling out a new global investment banking management structure.
China Everbright Greentech has priced a Rmb1bn ($154m) Panda bond, attaching a ‘carbon neutrality’ label to its return to the onshore market.
Avic International Leasing Co turned to the euro market on Tuesday for a sub-one year bond, but the deal’s short tenor and a rough issuance backdrop led to tepid investor response.
Valeo, the French auto parts maker, and US exchange company Nasdaq brushed off any worries of contagion from a weak sterling market to print bonds in euros flat to fair value on Tuesday, with the issuers able to take full advantage of the an exceptionally quiet market.
The primary market was much quieter last week with only two markets active — SSA and corporate bonds. Total issuance in those markets fell to 32% and 18% of their 2021 weekly averages, respectively.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone locked up a $750m dual-tranche bond on Monday. But the deal was not easy for the Indian borrower, as negative headlines at home and a volatile Asian market kept many investors away. Morgan Davis reports.
Fujian Yango Group Co has sold a $250m bond as part of a liability management exercise.
Four of London’s biggest housing associations are moving closer to issuing debut sustainability bonds, after Metropolitan Housing became the third from an influential group of associations to print debt using the structure.
Nasdaq, the US securities trading marketplace, has mandated for an SEC-registered euro benchmark bond, days after the company announced it was spinning off its private market business into a new standalone joint venture.
Luso International Banking became the first Macau-based issuer to sell renminbi-denominated bonds in China’s interbank market when it sold a Rmb1.5bn ($231.5m) transaction at the end of last week.
Increased concerns about the impact and spread of the Covid-19 virus, as well as China property bond volatility, dented the dollar bond market in Asia last week, leading to significant widening in the high yield sector.
Valeo, the French car parts maker, has mandated for a debut sustainability-linked bond, hours after posting results showing a solid bounce back from last year.
Shandong Iron and Steel Group Co raked in $500m this week, as investors welcomed the long-term prospects of the Chinese company.
Ping An Real Estate Co raised a total of $600m from two tranches of green bonds on Thursday, capping a strong week for sustainability related transactions in Asia.
British Airways issued its first sustainability-linked bond this week, something still very rare in the airline industry. It was one of only a handful of issuers that braved volatility to enter the US corporate bond market this week.
BlackRock, the world’s largest investor, has upped its game on engaging with companies about environmental, social and governance issues this year, especially climate change, under a new manager. But responsible investment supporters are still hoping for more progress, and that the big investors will make the link between their engagement activities and their support for capital markets issues.
The wheels fell off the IG corporate sterling bond market this week, with one pulled deal and another that barely scraped through. Accusations and recriminations flew over what caused the trouble, which has likely slammed the doors shut on the sterling market until autumn. Mike Turner reports.
Borrowers should be encouraged by the recent performance in credit, which has held rock steady amid rising uncertainty.
McLaren, the sports car manufacturer, closed its $620m five year deal with a 7.5% coupon on Thursday after investors piled into the order book.
Northern Powergrid (North East) postponed a sterling bond issue on Thursday a day after a housing association trade limped over the line, leaving bankers trying to decipher what caused the market to collapse this week.
NatWest Group said on Friday that the “reshaping” of its investment banking arm, NatWest Markets, would be largely complete by the end of the year, after it moved a further 500 staff out of NWM in the second quarter.
The Berkeley Group, one of the UK’s biggest home builders, found the pulse of the sterling bond market on Wednesday, two weeks after some bankers had declared the market dead until the autumn.
The number of industry sectors for which Moody’s holds a positive outlook reached a record high halfway through 2021, but investors say that there are some parts of the economy that the coronavirus pandemic has forever damaged.
The Bankers Investment Trust, a London-listed investment trust which traces its origins back to 1888, has sold a £74.5m-equivalent private placement. While there are slim pickings for PP investors looking to lend to financial institutions in Europe, investment trusts have provided a steady stream of opportunities.
Strategic Value Partners has closed its fifth special situations fund at its hard cap of $5bn, as it tries to differentiate itself from other distressed debt funds through direct sourcing.
European companies piled into the bond market on Wednesday with a variety of deals that favoured duration, as buoyant sentiment returned after being sapped by the US Federal Reserve last week.
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