Europe

The secondary market was a little weaker on Wednesday, in line with credit sentiment, but overall conditions were supportive and the market is expected to remain receptive to the mini-wave of likely supply as issuers emerge from blackout.

This week has seen the completion of the largest UK IPO since Worldpay, despite a cautious mood gripping investors following a string of failed IPOs in Europe. A significant M&A driven rights offer and a bold convertible bond from a prominent shopping centre group have also reached successful conclusions.

Sociéte Générale has created a China desk in Paris to cover Chinese corporates in France and provide services ranging from acquisition financing to capital markets.

After a run of lacklustre Turkish bank trades, Kuveyt Turk printed on Tuesday a $500m sukuk that was nearly four times subscribed. But the success was not universal to this week's Turkish bank issuance as Sekerbank failed to haul its tier two bond over the line.

The UK should not rely too heavily on EU law ‘equivalence’ preserving its dominance as a financial centre, bankers and lawyers have warned, after Bank of England governor Mark Carney suggested that use of the concept in Brexit negotiations could provide a template for a global regulatory system.

The European Central Bank is “reaching the limits” of its covered bond purchase programme (CBPP3) according ECB board member Ewald Nowotny, but that does not mean it is about to stop buying.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is set to test the five year part of the dollar curve — a tenor not attempted by many issuers over the last few weeks — as a French issuer opted for the tried and tested three year maturity and a German agency was able to increase a deal at that tenor from its target size.

Austria was richly rewarded for taking a leap into the unknown on Tuesday, as it took orders of over €7bn for the longest dated syndication ever from a core eurozone sovereign. KommuneKredit also broke its tenor record in euros, while the European Financial Stability Facility hired banks for a tap of a bond that looks short end by comparison.

UK hospitality firm Whitbread has extended its revolving credit facility by one year after its subsidiary Premier Inn helped generate a 2% increase in profit in the first half of the year.

Intu Properties, the UK shopping centres group formerly known as Capital Shopping Centres, issued its first convertible bond since 2012 on Tuesday morning, and successfully raised £375m but the bond has traded down in the aftermarket.

French private equity firm Ardian has appointed a new co-head of its private debt division, as it prepares for big things from the sector.

ConvaTec, the UK medical technology company, has priced a jumbo £1.7bn ($2.1bn) initial public offering at the bottom of its initial range.