Coronavirus

Italy this week began the slow process of reopening its economy after months of strict lockdown. The country's equity bankers are busy preparing new deals, including IPOs, writes Sam Kerr.

Governments must balance the risks to their public finances’ sustainability and a backlash from markets against the benefits of embarking on a major investment programme once the threat of the coronavirus retreats, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

Germany smashed its return to the syndicated bond market on Wednesday with its biggest ever order book and deal in the format, which was priced flat to fair value at the final spread, according to the leads.

Equinor, the petroleum refining company, sold the last of its shares in oil and gas exploration firm Lundin Energy in a Skr3.3bn ($335m) block trade on Tuesday evening.

Rolls-Royce, the UK jet engine maker, has signed a £1.5bn short term revolving credit facility, as lenders say European and US aerospace companies are having to approach fundraising in vastly different ways.

John Davidson is CEO of the Options Clearing Corporation, the equity derivatives clearing house. GlobalCapital caught up with him to discuss how clearing has held up in the Covid-19 crisis — during which equity markets endured huge volatility — and how he is planning for the return from lockdown.

When revealing its first quarter results on Wednesday, UniCredit said it would be updating its freshly launched Team 23 plan in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, which has dented profitability.

Citigroup is determined to emerge as a winner from the Covid-19 crisis and conquer the summit of global investment banking, in the face of any pull to concentrate more on home markets, writes David Rothnie.

Hiscox, the London-listed insurance and reinsurance company, has raised £375m through a sale of 57.6m new shares. Sources said that a strong showing by the management team persuaded them to back the share offering during challenging times for the company as it faces the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

High grade bond investors had a plethora of trades to pick from on Wednesday, as corporate bankers say May is shaping up to be a breakneck month for issuance.

Martin McKinney, senior manager of medium-term funding at Santander UK, speaks to GlobalCapital about the impact the UK’s lockdown on the bank’s balance sheet, central bank liquidity, and the bank’s changing mix of regulatory and pure funding.

Peijia Medical is set to close bookbuilding for its HK$2.34bn ($302m) listing early after institutional investor orders flooded the deal.