Goldman Sachs

Home24, the German online furniture retailer backed by Rocket Internet, has opened the books on its IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Goldman Sachs and three other major banks have signed up to the project to build a joint electronic bookbuilding system for the US investment grade market, joining Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi, and JP Morgan and giving the new platform a strong shot at total market dominance. Goldman’s merchant banking arm sold Ipreo, the main rival to the new project, last week.

Chinese used car e-commerce platform Uxin began investor education for a potential $500m Nasdaq IPO on Wednesday, said a banker on the deal.

Germany’s JAB Holdings has agreed to buy the UK’s Pret A Manger for a reported £1.5bn, though lenders are unsure whether this marks the beginning of a wave of consolidation in the ready to eat food market.

Shares in Capita, the UK outsourcing company, rose 3.2% on Friday after it concluded its £702m rights issue, intended to put the company on a sound financial footing after a series of profit warnings over the past year.

The political manoeuvrings in Italy’s path to being governed — as well as poor eurozone economic data — played havoc with rates this week, leading to SSA deals either paying higher new issue concessions, or falling short of subscription. More volatility could come, after the country’s president approved the likely coalition partners’ choice of prime minister but held back from appointing a eurosceptic economist to take charge of the country’s economy. Craig McGlashan reports.

Vodafone was welcomed with open arms in the US as it printed the biggest dollar bond in its history, executing a quick fire acquisition financing.

German energy supplier Innogy found the corporate bond market tough going for its latest new issue, despite marketing its deal for two days. However, it did execute the deal in a week that saw two corporate bond deals pulled, and despite an M&A shadow hanging over the company.

Dexia Crédit Local scored what leads said was a good result on Thursday as it brought a trade at the upper end of its size plans and tightened pricing during another volatile day for eurozone rates. KfW was also out in euros, with a tap, although it appeared to be more of a slow burner.

The pre-summer IPO season is in full swing as issuers and banks look to lock in deals before investors pack their bags for the holidays.

GlobalCapital announced the winners of its Bond Awards 2018 on Wednesday night at our 11th annual Bond Awards dinner, at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in London. Some 280 people were there to see the brightest and best performers in the international bond markets in the past year crowned.

Autodis Group, the French distributor of spare vehicle parts owned by Bain Capital, has cancelled its planned Euronext Paris IPO, blaming volatile markets.