NatWest Markets

Private equity firms have deployed their direct lending arms in three UK mid-sized deals in the past week, just as public market bankers begin to fret about the effects of Brexit on the sterling market.

British American Tobacco set fire to any notion that markets close in August this week with a $20.8bn bond bonanza. It brought a $17.25bn eight tranche deal on Tuesday — the second largest bond transaction of the year in the US — and followed that with a €3.6bn-equivalent four tranche dual currency deal in Europe on Wednesday. Nigel Owen reports.

Inflammatory rhetoric between the US president and North Korea failed to disturb rates markets on Wednesday. FMS Wertmanagement on Wednesday brought a tightly priced deal that drew heavy central bank demand — although it fell “just a touch” under full subscription.

After bringing the second largest bond transaction of the year in the US on Tuesday, British American Tobacco topped up its borrowing with a €3.6bn-equivalent four tranche dual currency deal on Wednesday.

NRW.Bank racked up another tightly priced deal for the dollar SSA market on Tuesday, as FMS Wertmanagement prepared a trade that bankers expect to attract a similar central bank audience. Issuers are enjoying strong summer dollar conditions, with swap spreads stable and US Treasury spreads attractive for the buy-side.

Cruise.co.uk, a UK online travel agent, is buying German peer Kreuzfahrtberater in a deal that brings together the direct lending arms of private equity firms Bridgepoint and Permira.

British American Tobacco is expected to bring the week-long run without any new corporate bond issuance to an end later this week. The UK based tobacco company could issue in dollars, euros and sterling.

The ongoing recovery of Royal Bank of Scotland, the UK banking group, took a step closer to completion on Friday when unveiled a profit in the first half of the year, aided by a sharp increase in profit from its investment banking division NatWest Markets.

The dollar market got off to a busy start in August with US telecoms heavyweights Verizon and Comcast taking home a combined $5.5bn on the back of strong demand.

Anglian Water, priced a £250m eight year green bond on Monday. The size and tenor are unremarkable, and in a generation of sustainability and responsibility, a green bond should cause similarly few ripples. However, this was the first sterling-denominated green bond issued by a corporate borrower since 2015.

HSBC has hired an SSA syndicate banker from NatWest Markets, with the new recruit set to make a switch to FIG syndicate, GlobalCapital understands.

Of the near 20 borrowers in the leveraged loan market six are due to close this week, including business information provider Mergermarket’s £450m of sterling and dollar loans.