Europe

Consolis, the French concrete producer owned by Bain Capital, has abandoned its €135m IPO on Euronext Paris, blaming volatile markets.

Korea Housing Finance Corporation (KHFC) entered the euro market for the first time on Wednesday, where it was met with a warm response for what was also the first ever social covered bond from an Asian borrower.

Moscow Exchange on Wednesday launched aluminium, nickel, copper and zinc futures as part of a partnership with London Metal Exchange.

The UK’s B&M will move into the French retail sector with a debt-financed acquisition of discount retailer Babou.

Investors in sub-investment grade markets had little new issuance to look at this week but were still bemoaning a decline in covenant protection this year.

Corporate bond investors appear are casting about for ways to deploy cash despite clear signs of growing caution. But in the leveraged finance markets, everybody prefers to wait and see.

Global equity market volatility has cast a long shadow over the end of 2018, making equity capital markets issuance more difficult.

Some investors are betting that Italian government bonds have suffered their worst losses and are hoping S&P will not downgrade the sovereign to junk at the end of this week. That is despite a spat between the Italian government and the European Commission over the former’s budget plans which saw the latter reject an EU member's budget proposal for the first time ever this week.

Telefónica’s reported decision that the IPO of O2 will not take place before the UK is scheduled to leave the European Union in March made headlines on Monday, but should not come as a great surprise to anyone involved in EMEA equity capital markets.

Italian government bonds took a hit on Tuesday after the European Commission asked the country to send a revised draft of its budget plans. But yields stayed below the 2018 peaks they hit late last week when investors feared that Moody’s could downgrade the sovereign to junk.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development returned to the sterling market on Tuesday to sell the first benchmark of its 2019 funding programme.

Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten mandated banks on Tuesday to arrange a series of investor calls for its first sustainability bond of the year.