Europe

The UK impressed onlookers with its sale of the second syndicated conventional Gilt of its 2021/22 financial year on Tuesday.

Spanish football club Atlético Madrid has signed a €300m US private placement, following its rivals FC Barcelona into the market.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s has increased the size of its covered bond programme after the Reserve Bank of Australia opted to end its Term Funding Facility, suggesting that Australian banks could be on the verge of increasing their public bond market funding.

Bridgepoint Group, the UK private equity group, is garnering strong interest for its IPO on the London Stock Exchange. Sources close to the deal said that it coming so late in what has been a tricky summer deal window surprised some but that investors have warmed quickly to it.

Covered bond and SSA research analysts at Société Générale are set to leave the bank for other firms later this year.

Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of busiess on Monday, July 12. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services

Investec has hired two new staffers to its growth and leveraged finance team, after launching an inaugural direct lending fund at the start of 2021.

European IPO bankers have renewed their focus on bringing growth-orientated technology companies to market in the autumn, rather than cyclical firms, as fears over the continuing spread of Covid-19 leading to a fresh wave of lockdowns at the end of the year persist.

Barclays has hired a senior trader from JP Morgan in New York to replace Naseer Al-Khudairi as head of electronic trading and digital strategy for its markets division.

The European Union mandated banks on Monday for a dual tranche transaction comprising bonds for its Next Generation EU (NGEU), European Financial Stabilisation (EFSM) and Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) programmes.

Note holders of Depfa ACS bonds can expect to be paid handsomely for their holdings, provided they meet Monday’s registration deadline to agree to the new purchase scheme. But although the terms look attractive, it is far from clear that a successful outcome will be achieved.

London’s booming investment trusts market is showing no sign of slowing down, with three new deals pricing on Monday including space-tech vehicle Seraphim Space Investment Trust.