Europe

Metro Bank raised £303m from a primary non-preemptive placing after market close in London on Tuesday night but although it received a strong reception the stock traded down on Wednesday.

Rewables fund Tages Helios has taken out five credit lines totalling €452.5m from a syndicate of banks to refinance a portfolio of solar plants, as Italian names continue to win capital markets support despite some investors' distaste for the political direction of the country.

Greencoat Renewables, the renewable energy fund listed in Dublin and London, has raised €111m to fund Irish windfarm acquisitions.

Bulgarian Energy Holding, the 100% government-owned Bulgarian electricity and gas holding company, has printed a €150m tap of the €400m 3.5% 2025s it sold in June.

The £1bn rights issue of DS Smith, the last big ECM deal scheduled before the summer has been completed. The UK and European market is now preparing for what is expected to be a "very busy" September.

US real money investors may be scaling back positions in Italian bank capital ahead of the country’s tough budget discussions with the EU in September.

The flow of primary investment grade issuance in Europe has ground to a near halt, with only one new issue of decent size this week from Connect Plus. The focus for investors in on September and the European Central Bank’s strategy for the rest of the year.

Investors in the European leveraged finance markets speaking to GlobalCapital said that, while issuance is lagging behind 2017's figures for the period, there is appetite for an increase in supply.

Colin Withers left ING’s EM and high yield syndicate last week after seven years at the bank and shortly before Uzair Burney, a high yield syndicate official from Lloyds, is set to join the desk.

Julian Dunkerton, founder of fashion brand Superdry, sold a 5.5m share block in the company for £71m after the market closed on Monday.

A public sector borrower that plans to debut in the bond markets this year has taken the novel step of making its Euro Medium Term Note programme green.

Connect Plus (M25), the project company that manages the M25 motorway around London, has priced its first public bond issue, for £893m, to unwind interest rate swaps from 2009 and refinance part of a £1bn loan.