Europe

The Universities Superannuation Scheme, one of the UK’s largest pension schemes, has bought most of $3.1bn of senior loans to direct lenders from Credit Suisse, a first in a market which promises growth as institutional funds look for more esoteric products to find yield.

WHSmith, the UK newsagent and bookseller, has signed a £130m five year revolving credit line to use as its working capital facility, it said on Wednesday, while raising its full year profit forecast.

Banco Santander made a profit of €6.2bn last year as a booming performance in Latin American markets helped offset its exposure to a sinking pound.

Renewed appetite in the long end of the curve allowed Crédit Agricole Home Loan SFH to add a rare benchmark 20 year covered bond to an offering of eight and 15 year notes on Wednesday, as the French lender walked away with a healthy €2.5bn of funding.

Agribusiness Kernel proved the right credit to bring Ukrainian corporates in from the cold on Tuesday. After a rough ride of corporate restructurings, the inaugural issuer was able to garner the confidence and trust of investors to print $500m.

UniCredit has appointed a new global head of financial institutions group as it looks to bolster the sector’s importance within its corporate and investment banking division.

Polyus Gold is plotting a rapid return to the Eurobond market following its successful outing in October last year.

Corporate bond issuers are still coming to the euro market, but at a slower pace than in the past fortnight — perhaps a good thing, as signs of indigestion began to creep into the secondary market last week, and some new issues traded weakly.

FIG investors can expect the first round of post-earnings announcement deals in forthcoming sessions, though they have not been left wanting even at the height of blackout season.

In a relatively quiet week for live equity deals, Novartis, one of Europe’s largest pharmaceutical companies, has said it is considering an IPO or spin-off of its eye care division, and a real estate investment trust announced the year’s first London IPO of significant size.

The Irish regulators are looking to facilitate European investments into China, following the award of an RMB qualified foreign institutional investor (RQFII) quota to Ireland as well as prepping for the launch of the China-Hong Kong ETF Connect.

ED&F Man Capital Markets, the financial brokerage business, has become the fifteenth clearing member of the ERIS Exchange.