Europe

Capital & Counties Properties, the London landlord that owns large amounts of Covent Garden, is strengthening its liquidity position by issuing a £250m bond exchangeable into shares of Shaftesbury.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey delivered a much anticipated interest rate hike on Thursday, fulfilling market watchers' hopes that the country will reform its way to economic recovery. A trip to the primary bond market for the sovereign could be imminent.

Syncona, the UK life sciences investor, has launched a new gene therapy company, through a £45m series A private fundraising round. The company could be a future candidate for a lucrative biotech listing.

Limited supply prospects next year suggest that relentless purchases under the European Central Bank’s Covered Bond Purchase Programme (CBPP3) will continue to exert a strong influence on yields, squeezing more real money investors out of the market, even though its gross purchases may decline.

The sterling syndicated loan market hosted two environmentally friendly trades this week, with UK power generation company Drax and renewables fund Octopus Renewables Infrastructure signing facilities.

The European Central Bank revealed this week that 10 small banks would be operating below their regulatory capital requirements if they hadn’t made use of transitional support measures during the coronavirus crisis.

The additional tier one (AT1) market has plenty of room left to rally, according to a new report from analysts at Morgan Stanley, even though valuations are already drawing close to other asset classes.

Audax Renovables, the Spanish renewable electricity producer, has become the latest European issuer to issue a green convertible bond, raising €125m.

A €200m share placing in Fluidra, the Spanish swimming pool equipment company, caught investors in a buoyant mood on Wednesday evening, with bookrunners having to enlarge the deal to satisfy demand.

Sustainability-linked pricing has arrived in the equity capital markets. This is no bad thing.

The People’s Republic of China returned to the European market on Wednesday, part of its plan to make euro bond outings an annual exercise. The €4bn transaction was a blow-out, with the order book well oversubscribed — and one of the three tranches achieving the sovereign’s first negative yield. Morgan Davis reports.

The banking landscape in Spain and the UK is set to change, amid pressure on banks' profitability, after a flurry of announcements this week.