Europe

Emerging market investors appeared calm but hopeful as Russian president Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden prepared to meet in Geneva on Wednesday. It is hoped that the summit will quell tensions between the two countries.

Helios Towers, the London-listed telecoms towers company focused on the Middle East and Africa, has completed a $160m capital raising, including a $50m tap of its outstanding 2027 convertible bond.

HSBC Asset Management is unifying its alternatives businesses, creating a single 150-strong team led by Joanna Munro, previously the firm’s global chief investment officer, in London.

The largest institutional investors in the private placement market have the cash and, increasingly, the origination capabilities to draw companies into bilateral and club trades. If these whales can show companies there is no pricing pick-up over syndicated deals, the broader market is bound to lose ground.

A trio of senior bankers from Credit Suisse’s European financial institutions group (FIG) have followed the team’s European head to Jefferies.

Confidence in the rates and covered bond secondary markets improved on Tuesday in the wake of a strong performance in the EU’s debut Next Gen deal, despite an initial wobble when the deal weighed in at €20bn, which was larger than expected.

Europe’s equity capital markets bankers are expressing concern that deals they’re working on now will be damaged if the re-opening of the continent’s economies is reversed in the autumn. But new research on Covid-19 and last year’s pattern of infections shows they’re right to be nervous.

Turkey's Akbank launched a dollar sustainable bond on Tuesday, just months after it raised its first ESG-linked syndicated loan.

Criteria Caixa, the holding company which manages the assets of Spain’s La Caixa Banking Foundation, has issued a €200m bond exchangeable into shares in Cellnex, the telecoms towers company.

The European Union generated a blowout reception for its debut bond under the €800bn Next Generation EU (NGEU) programme on Tuesday, although it paid a sizeable new issue premium of 4bp-5bp according to senior bankers away from the deal.

TSB Bank attracted good demand for its Sonia-linked covered bond on Tuesday, pushing out along the curve with a rare seven year that sufficiently differentiates from central bank liquidity. The extraordinarily strong sterling market conditions encouraged Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to follow Bank of Nova Scotia and mandate leads for another five year Sonia offering.

Bike 24, the German online cycling shop, has set the price range for its IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, offering a hefty discount to online fashion retailer Zalando amid intense competition for the attention of investors in a crowded market for new listings in Europe.