NatWest Markets

Any fears that investors might be nervous about sterling bonds in the run-up to the UK’s referendum on European Union membership eased with a pair of deals on Tuesday.

A plunge in sterling’s value on Monday after the UK government picked a date for the country’s European Union membership is unlikely to stop SSAs adding to a record breaking year in the currency so far, said bankers.

Pendragon, the UK car dealer, has refinanced its debt, issuing a private placement and signing a new unsecured club revolving credit facility that cut its margin by a hefty 85bp.

The UK Debt Management Office has mandated banks for the sale of a Gilt set for the week beginning February 22.

Belgian telecommunications company Telenet, which is owned by Liberty Global, has drawn on €1.2bn of loans to fund the €1.325bn acquisition of Belgian mobile operator, BASE.

Royal Dutch Shell has cancelled its £10.07bn ($14.56bn) bridge loan, instead opting to pay for the cash element of its $82bn acquisition of BG Group with cash on balance sheet.

On Tuesday night the loan market gathered in all its finery to hear the winners of the 13th Syndicated Loan, Leveraged Finance and Private Placement Awards at the Guildhall, in London. The results are below.

Santander UK has taken advantage of deep demand for short dated floating rate debt to print a €750m deal in the private market.

The extraordinary sight of a German public sector borrower pulling a syndication mid-week led not only led to criticism of the deal’s execution but also reawakened fears over banks' diminishing ability to take down and warehouse sovereign and sub-sovereign bonds. Craig McGlashan reports.

As European equity markets briefly rallied on Thursday, Ford Credit Europe (FCE Bank) and Praxair stepped into the breach, printing €1.9bn of paper for a starved primary market.

Caisse d'Amortissement de la Dette Sociale (Cades) priced a £500m three year bond on the same day that KommuneKredit mandated for a tap in the currency.

The European Investment Bank and Nederlandse Waterschapsbank priced deals on a day in which another issuer pulled a trade.