Goldman Sachs

Banks are pushing out the last of this year’s equity block trades and there could even be room for more supply next week, if the UK general election delivers a market friendly result.

Investors gobbled up a high yield bond offering by US plastic packaging company Berry on Thursday, encouraging the company to increase the size twice, eventually reaching over €1bn. Berry is the only speculative grade company to issue a major bond this week in Europe, as most issuers stayed away from a market anxious about the UK general election.

OneConnect Financial Technology Co, a unit of Chinese conglomerate Ping An Group, reduced the size and price range of its New York Stock Exchange listing on Wednesday, a day before it was to be priced.

The Park Hotels, an Indian luxury hotel chain, is planning to go public next year through an IPO of new and existing shares, according to a source close to the deal.

Health and Happiness International Holdings, a China-based supplier of paediatric nutritional and baby care products, has increased the size of its loan to $675m on strong demand.

Venus Medtech (Hangzhou), a Chinese biotechnology company, has wrapped up its Hong Kong IPO at the top end of guidance, raking in HK$2.6bn ($311.1m).

Another packaging company is hunting for better financing terms in the issuer-friendly European high yield bond market. Berry Global follows companies such as Crown, Ball, Smurfit Kappa, Owen-Illinois and Ardagh with an ambitious refinancing that could be priced as early as Thursday — the day of the UK general election.

E.On, the German power company, hit the short end of its bond curve on Tuesday, launching a €500m no-grow 2.8 year deal on a tricky day for the wider markets.

The Kingdom of Norway has sold a chunk of its stake in Entra, the Norwegian real estate development company, via an accelerated bookbuild that attracted more than 200 orders, according to a source close to the transaction.

Ocado, the UK online grocer, has made its first foray into the equity-linked market with a £600m convertible bond due in 2025 to finance investment in its technology platform Ocado Solutions, which produces robotic warehouses for foreign partners.

OneConnect Financial Technology, a unit of Chinese conglomerate Ping An Group, hit the road on Tuesday to meet investors for its New York Stock Exchange IPO.

Italgas, the Italian gas distributor, issued a €500m 12 year bond on Monday, although syndicate bankers said they expected deal flow to diminish to a trickle over the week.