Macquarie Group

The hidden depth of demand in Europe’s corporate bond market was made amply clear on Monday, when Vodafone trounced market expectations that it would issue a €3bn bond — itself a large and bullish transaction — by raising €6bn.

Macquarie issued its inaugural covered bond on Thursday, meeting a strong reception with the five year €500m paper twice subscribed by investors. Westpac has also opened books on a $1.35bn deal, as Fitch said it expects Australian covered bond issuance to rise this year.

Solera, the US insurance claims processor, held bank meetings on Tuesday in New York and Wednesday in London for a $1.9bn term loan ‘B’, backing its $6.5bn acquisition by Vista Equity Partners.

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank Group rose when it began trading after its IPO on Wednesday, having completed its separation from National Australia Bank with a £396m flotation.

SolarWinds, the US IT management software firm, priced its $1.5bn first lien acquisition debt package at a hefty discount on Monday while finalising the euro tranche size.

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank Group was due to close the book for its IPO at 2pm on Monday, having put out a final message to inform investors that orders below 180p a share risked missing out. At that level, the deal size would be £397.5m.

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank Group, the UK mid-sized bank being spun off by National Australia Bank, has tightened the price range of its London initial public offering to the low end.

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank Group, the UK mid-sized bank being spun off by National Australia Bank, has set the price range for its London IPO at a level that it hopes will prove compelling to investors in spite of market volatility.

Macquarie Bank printed an eight year Swiss franc bond this week, mimicking an earlier effort from compatriot National Australia Bank.

Virscend Education Co has raised HK$1.8bn ($232.2m) after pricing its Hong Kong IPO near the bottom of the range, emerging relatively unscathed from the volatility that rocked global equity markets last week.

China’s attempts to allow markets forces to play a bigger role in the currency seemed to have backfired this week with both the onshore RMB (CNY) and its offshore (CNH) counterpart experiencing a tumultuous ride. Further depreciation is expected but the big unknown remains how policy makers will act.

Ronshine China Holdings has sealed Asia’s first IPO this year, pricing its HK$1.81bn ($233.5m) Hong Kong float at the bottom of guidance after a low turnout during bookbuilding.