NatWest Markets

UK equipment hire company Speedy Hire has signed a £180m asset-backed revolving credit facility, to replace a £220m facility signed three years ago and due to mature in August 2015. The margins and fees on the facility have been reduced across the board.

Indian state owned refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp has opened a $300m financing into general syndication. An Indian lender has joined as MLA ahead of general launch, in addition to the five mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners,

Reliance Industries’ telecom arm Reliance Jio Infocomm has picked a consortium of 15 banks to lead its $1.5bn refinancing.

Pernod Ricard, the French distiller, issued its second European bond of the year on Wednesday, in a week already well populated with deals for drinks companies.

Diageo, the UK alcoholic drinks group, was named by research firm CreditSights last week as one of the European consumer goods companies most exposed to risk from the Scottish independence referendum.

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has a cachet in the bond market, as in its own field of luxury goods. An A+ rating is rare, and LVMH is an infrequent borrower. It can also rely on the enthusiastic support of French investors.

Indian state owned refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp has launched its $300m loan into general syndication, with the five leads already being joined by one Indian lender at the mandated lead arranger level.

WPP, the UK advertising group, launched its first bond of the year on Monday, hitting the market without warning and raising €750m. The strong reception to the deal suggested investors were not worried about buying into a company in a cyclical industry, despite Europe’s economic weakness, nor into a UK name, in the week that Scotland may vote to break up the union.

Alllen Rad has left RBS where he had been head of covered bond trading since 2008.

Cross Keys Homes, a housing association based in Peterborough, issued a £150m bond on Monday that was marketed specifically to environmental, social and governance-driven investors.

Few have been more vocal in their opposition to Scottish independence than the country's own banks. Royal Bank of Scotland may share a name with the country, but that seems to be an end to its patriotism. Not surprising when banks domiciled in an independent Scotland would have to contend with higher risk weightings on their assets and an inflated cost of funding.

The covered bond market for sterling FRNs picked up on Monday as Barclays priced the largest ever deal in the currency and Danske Bank priced a benchmark. The two borrowers follow Nordea Eiendomskreditt, which attracted robust demand last week.