Europe

AP Møller-Mærsk is tonight selling its remaining 1.6% stake in Danske Bank in an accelerated bookbuild worth Dkr3.35bn (€450m) before any discount. The deal breaks a quiet patch for block trades in Europe.

Nissan has done the UK a favour. By playing hardball about wanting assurances from the UK government about Brexit, it has opened the debate into one where real investments are discussed, and tough choices become apparent. The City should follow its lead.

Aberdeen City Council was able to raise £370m on Tuesday with a bond issue that was the first ever from a sub-sovereign Scottish borrower.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange will start trading commodity spot spread contracts on gold and silver, including an exchange based mechanism to offset COMEX gold and silver futures positions.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has given permission, via orders of registration, for five European exchanges to allow direct trading access from the US.

Private equity firm Ardian has turned to the leveraged loan market to fund its acquisition of German lighting provider SLV Holding from Cinven.

Tobacco firms are ramping up their presence in the e-cigarette business — whether by purchasing existing producers or developing their own products — as smokers slowly shift towards what most experts agree is the healthier alternative of vaping. But could the big companies fund their digital switchover with a debt product not unlike a green bond?

A number of covered bond borrowers have this week what has become a rare opportunity to print shorter dated deals than have been possible in recent times. But if they want to beat the uncertainty surrounding the US presidential election next week, they will have to move over the next three days.

French car parts provider Autodistribution on Tuesday opened a four day roadshow for fixed and floating rate notes in a deal set to refinance old bonds, including PIKs, and fund its acquisition of Doyen Auto.

The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) has signed its annual loan refinancing, increasing the deal from $150m to over $200m in syndication, according to a banker on the deal.

UK challenger bank Virgin Money Holdings is set to return to the additional tier one (AT1) market, as it looks to entice investors during a quiet week for new issuance.

Shares in Volution Group, the UK manufacturer of ventilation products, closed 8.4% lower on Tuesday after Windmill Holding, an investment vehicle controlled by Towerbrook Capital Partners, sold its remaining 22% stake via the third block trade since the company’s IPO in 2014.