Europe

Commodities firm Trailstone has signed its first syndicated loan co-ordinated in Europe.

ING has made a pair of appointments to bolster its equity capital markets business.

Autins Group, the UK manufacturer of acoustic and thermal insulation materials, has priced its £26.6m IPO on London’s Aim.

Austrian construction firm Porr has completed an amended and extended €65m of Schuldscheine signed last year, securing tighter margins and longer tenors.

Abengoa, the Spanish engineering and renewable energy firm, is heading to its October make-or-break deadline convinced that 75% of creditors will support its final restructuring debt plans, thus avoiding liquidation.

August has been a volatile month in recent years, with the Chinese devaluation last summer and a flare-up in Greece's debt crisis. Yet so far indices have remained stable this time. Stability could also be torpor if primary activity is anything to go by. Just a handful of small European deals in progress show a market in the full grip of the summer slowdown.

European high yield bonds and leveraged loans have maintained interest this week for investors, despite a lack of deals, as other parts of the corporate market have finally been lulled to summer slumber.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has launched a protocol aimed at helping market participants comply with the variation margin requirements that come into force in March next year.

Far from seeing Tullett Prebon’s voice-hybrid push as a last stand of the dinosaurs against robot supremacy, those firms going all-in on electronic trading would do well to re-examine their own longevity.

A pair of public sector borrowers are set to join NRW.Bank in the dollar market this week, taking advantage of good conditions — and with perhaps one eye on the US presidential election in early November.

Deutsche Pfandbriefbank is following fellow German issuer Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba) into dollar denominated Pfandbrief, after mandating leads for a three year dollar deal on Tuesday.

Finnish paper and packaging group Powerflute picked two banks to refinance a €120m acquisition facility.