Europe

Embracer Group, the Swedish video games developer, has placed Skr7.6bn ($900m) of new shares with investors to finance its ongoing growth.

Russian hypermarket and grocery store chain Lenta is considering a share sale to boost the freefloat of its stock and raise capital to finance acquisitions.

It was a long time coming, but Greece finally completed its curve with a 30 year bond on Wednesday. This was its first in the tenor since before the global financial crisis. The bond was a success, despite a choppy backdrop.

Three of Neoen’s major shareholders have completed a tail swallow ahead of the French renewable energy company’s €600m rights issue, which was announced on Tuesday.

SSP, the UK food outlet operator, launched a £475m rights issue on Wednesday to strengthen its balance sheet in order to put itself in the best position for the reopening of its businesses this summer when the UK hopes to come out of lockdown.

The number of primary dealerships for the European government bond market continues to fall, with 15 sovereigns now having their lowest number of primary dealerships on record, according to the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME).

Všeobecná úverova banka (VUB) issued a €500m five year covered bond on Wednesday at the tightest spread for any issuer from Slovakia. At the same time the Mortgage Society of Finland issued a sub-benchmark sized 10 year at close to fair value. The resounding outcomes for both deals partly reflected the generous spreads on offer. At the same time OP Mortgage Bank has announced plans to issue its debut green covered bond.

Club Brugge, the Belgian football club, has begun bookbuilding for its IPO on Euronext Brussels, having fixed the price range at €17.50 to €22.50 a share.

Paragon Banking Group this week became the first UK lender to launch a subordinated bond in an ESG format. The bank was looking to replace its only outstanding tier two with a new green-labelled transaction.

The European Central Bank could give EU lenders more time to rebuild their capital buffers if they struggle to keep on top of an expected increase in credit risk during the coronavirus pandemic.

CTP Logistics, a commercial property developer based in the Czech Republic, began bookbuilding for its IPO on the Amsterdam stock exchange on Wednesday.

A Z4.59bn ($1.2bn) block in Allegro, the Polish e-commerce company, met with strong demand from equity investors on Tuesday night, with investors eager to buy more of the stock which was listed to acclaim in Europe last year.