Europe

Investors in UK universities are struggling to work out just how risky the sector is, as its lucrative international student intake as well as pension liabilities are still unclear. A report published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) on Monday estimated that 13 universities may go bust if they do not either carry out debt restructurings or receive government bailouts.

Niedersachsen Invest GmbH, the financing vehicle 100% guaranteed by the State of Lower Saxony with a policy mission for the recapitalisation and long-term restructuring of NordLB, received a strong reception from investors for its debut bond on Monday.

FMO began a series of investor calls on Monday to market a rare tier two bond issue ahead of a call date of a previous deal in the format in December.

KfW mandated banks on Monday for a highly anticipated return to the dollar market following its previous benchmark in the currency back in January. The German agency will be joined in dollars by the Asian Development Bank, which is preparing a three year trade.

Kookmin Bank is expected to surface later this week with its first euro covered bond which will fund social housing. The deal is to emerge amid mounting concern that diminishing supply, rising redemptions and aggressive central bank buying will cause an unprecedented technical squeeze in the covered bond market.

Following the high drama in Ukraine last week when the sovereign pulled a long anticipated bond issue after the governor of the central bank resigned just after the deal was priced, investors are now casting a cautious eye on who will take over.

Assicurazioni Generali launched a greent tier two capital bond in euros on Monday, confirming the appetite for riskier products across bank capital. The new deal left no premium on the table as the issuer capitalised on demand for green subordinated debt.

Lloyds Banking Group has appointed Centerview’s Robin Budenberg as its next chair, while chief executive António Horta-Osório is set to leave the firm next year.

After UBI Banca said that it would not be taking up Intesa Sanpaolo’s acquisition offer because it was too risky for UBI’s shareholders, Intesa said on Monday that the value of the offer is higher than its target believes.

Rolls-Royce, the UK maker of aircraft engines, may soon launch a share sale as part of an effort to repair its balance sheet, following a huge downturn in the aviation industry caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Oatly, the Swedish company that makes oat milk, has signed a Skr1.925bn (€184m) club loan, on which the pricing can be adjusted if it hits sustainability targets.

Each week, Keeping Tabs brings you the very best of what we in the GlobalCapital newsroom have found most useful, interesting and informative from around the web. This week: supervising financial reporting, a discordant health and financial picture in emerging markets, and managing climate risk.