Europe

The board of the London Stock Exchange Group will hold a general meeting to decide the future of chairman Donald Brydon as activist investor The Children’s Investment Master Fund (TCI) has refused to retract calls for him to be sacked.

Swedish speciality chemicals firm Perstorp is lining up the European high yield market’s first December deal, with a €485m two tranche bond that is expected to be priced next week.

UK distribution company Bunzl and UK logistics property company Tritax Big Box REIT both met with investors in the UK in the first half of this week before launching debut bond deals on Thursday, while Anglian Water Osprey Financing launched a transaction straight after an investor breakfast.

A trio of equity-linked issues this week was capped off on Thursday by a €100m convertible bond due in April 2023 from Pierre & Vacances, the French operator of tourist villages.

Institutional investors are feeling squeezed in the bustling Schuldschein market, as bank lenders are more willing to compromise on financial covenants and pricing margins.

On Thursday German telecoms company Deutsche Telekom sold its third bond with a 2024 maturity, while Italian state owned railway operator Ferrovie Dello Stato issued its first green bond.

Deutsche Bank was the only financial institution in the euro market on Thursday with a €1.25bn unsecured senior bond.

Private equity firm Ardian is ready to tap Europe’s leveraged finance markets to fund the acquisition of a controlling stake in Dérivés Résiniques et Terpéniques (DRT), the French plant chemistry specialist, but there are mixed views on the outlook for further M&A-fuelled leveraged finance activity.

TSB Bank has issued its first covered bond, and a generous starting spread ensured that the deal attracted the highest oversubscription of any sterling covered bond this year.

Energo-Pro became the latest high yield corporate to join the recent run of supply from central and eastern Europe on Thursday, increasing the size of its debut deal after a decent bookbuild allowed it to raise an additional €20m.

Shawbrook Group, the UK challenger bank, is looking to make its first foray into the additional tier one market with a sterling-denominated deal.

Special purpose acquisition companies continue to flourish in Italy, with several new vehicles having been launched this year.