Lloyds Bank

The universities of Aberdeen and Leicester are marketing US private placements (US PP), it is understood, both of which willl be inaugural transactions.

The day after the UK government mandated Teresa May to go to Brussels and renegotiate the country’s exit agreement with the European Union, the UK electricity transmission company National Grid tested investors’ appetites for UK assets and found a host of willing buyers without having to offer much of a premium.

Thames Water sold roughly £220m of US private placement notes this January.

Lloyds Bank issued a £750m three year Sonia linked covered bond on Monday, taking advantage of the steepness of the sterling curve to cut the funding cost. But having issued almost £4bn ($5.1bn) in the last 12 months, demand was much less compelling than Nationwide’s recent Sonia debut.

Berkshire Hathaway was one of five issuers to brave choppy conditions on Thursday and open the dollar market with the first trades of 2019.

The UK’s CityFibre has signed a £1.12bn debt package from seven banks, as the Goldman Sachs-linked fibre broadband infrastructure provider rolls out its nationwide competition against incumbent firms BT and Virgin Media.

Cinema operator Vue International cancelled its £833m-equivalent leveraged loan offering amid increasing investor aversion to sterling risk, as the UK government and Parliament descended into a full-blown clash over the conditions for separation from the European Union.

Widening spreads for UK financial firms have opened up attractive opportunities for investors comfortable with the underlying resilience of the sector. Despite the risks that Brexit and competition from new sources pose, there were no failures in the Bank of England's stress test last week.

Four borrowers piled into the dollar bond market on Thursday, adding to one of the busiest weeks of the year despite tough market conditions. UK telecoms company BT led the charge with a $1.35bn two-part deal.

Barclays and Santander UK exploited the relief rally in the immediate aftermath of the US midterm elections this week to take home a combined $4.5bn.

Ireland’s Applegreen has signed €300m of loans to finance its acquisition of more than half of motorway service operator Welcome Break, topping off a fund raising round that also saw a share placement.

Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) and Coventry Building Society have mandated leads for the first five year Sonia-linked covered bonds, Lloyds is out with the first Reg S dollar covered bond from a UK issuer in years, and DZ Hyp has mandated leads for the first deal under its new brand name. Elsewhere, Bank of Nova Scotia has opened order books for a three year sterling tap.