Europe

A number of UK banks are expected to tender for opco debt in the coming months, following in the footsteps of Barclays, which announced the results of its latest buyback on Wednesday.

Bulgarian Energy Holding has picked lead banks for its €650m loan, after taking six months and being downgraded during the arranging process.

Van Lanschot Bankiers mandated leads for a roadshow with a view to issuing a euro denominated conditional pass through benchmark.

Ukraine poultry producer, MHP has finally secured bondholder approval to amend its $750m notes due 2020, though bankers close to the deal said they knew it would be "rejected the first time."

Eurobank has issued its first covered bond in the private market after recently updating its prospectus. With two other major Greek banks having conducted similar exercises, the road to their rehabilitation in the capital market has become more established, despite rating downgrades.

The State of North Rhine-Westphalia more than doubled the record size for a green bond from a European sub-sovereign, pricing a deal several basis points inside initial price thoughts on Wednesday.

Vertu Motors, the UK retailer of used and new cars, raised £35m (€44.65m) from an intraday block sale of new shares on Wednesday.

Hotel Chocolat Group, the chocolate maker and retailer, announced plans this week to float on London’s junior stock exchange.

The European high yield market experienced a flush of hope on Wednesday as LeasePlan, the Dutch car finance bank, returned with the €1.55bn bond funding for its LBO, which it had pulled in February.

SIG, the UK building materials producer, has said it is considering its refinancing options for £130m of US private placement notes maturing in November.

The first negative yielding covered bond, which was issued on Tuesday by Berlin Hyp, was almost an inevitability. But given the psychological resistance and reputational risk involved in selling such a deal, the outcome was by no means a foregone conclusion. The deal's resounding success should mean more will now follow.

Deficiencies in solvency and capital, not a loss of liquidity, cause banking crises, said the Prudential Regulatory Authority’s new chief executive in a speech on Wednesday, rejecting a view held by many bankers that much post-crisis regulation represents a misunderstanding of how the 2008 crisis came about.