Europe

US banking group JP Morgan has sold a new three-year €390m synthetic bond exchangeable into shares in Siemens, the German industrial conglomerate.

Société Générale and Natixis both endured a difficult 2020 in their markets business, but in the fourth quarter their equities divisions managed to pull off a brighter performance.

UK biotech firms are continuing to reap the benefits from US listings. On Tuesday Autolus Therapeutics, an early stage biopharma firm backed by Syncona Investments, became the latest UK Biotech firm to raise capital on the US Nasdaq in a $100m transaction. The deal shows the continued advantages for early stage European biotech firms in having a US listing.

Aedifica, the Belgian healthcare property investment company, has closed its debut US private placement, according to market sources.

Achmea has become the latest Dutch bank to transition to a soft bullet maturity. This will have a material impact on central bank treatment and funding, but opportunities to extract value in the secondary market will be a challenge.

Chuka Umunna has been appointed by JP Morgan to a newly created post of head of ESG for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

KfW became the latest in a series of top SSA names to launch an ESG transaction in Canadian dollars, tapping into a growing base of investors in the country.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena said there were some “uncertainties” around its capital strengthening plans as it slumped to a €1.7bn annual loss on Wednesday. The Italian lender has recently denied rumours that it is working on an imminent sale of subordinated debt.

IVC Evidensia, Europe’s largest veterinary care provider, backed by Swedish private equity firm EQT, has announced the results of a private equity capital raising on Tuesday. The company was reported to be considering a London listing this year, but this new raise might delay that listing.

Investec Bank plc, the London and Johannesburg-listed subsidiary of South African banking group Investec, came to the euro bond market on Wednesday to raise debt.

BPCE is planning to buy the stake in Natixis it does not already own, and is also examining splitting it up, placing its corporate and investment banking activities and asset and wealth management branch into a new structure.

Apollo Global Management has exited Watches of Switzerland, the UK luxury watch retailer, having sold the last of its shares via an accelerated bookbuild.