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George Osborne, UK chancellor of the exchequer, handed equity capital markets bankers a windfall on Wednesday — at least in terms of volume and league table credit, if not generous fees.

Repsol, the Spanish oil company, has issued a €2bn hybrid bond as part of the long term financing for its $8.3bn (€6.6bn) acquisition of Talisman Energy.

The European Investment Bank took a cautious approach to its 10 year EARN on Wednesday, opting to take longer than usual to execute the deal, now expected to be priced on Thursday.

UCB, the unrated Belgian pharmaceuticals company, is sounding out demand for a senior unsecured euro bond for general financing purposes among European investors.

The UK’s Debt Management Office (DMO) announced Wednesday a lower than expected borrowing requirement for its coming fiscal year.

Real estate investment trust Shaftesbury has added to the recent run of UK property firms returning to the loan market, by arranging a £130m deal.

Belgian insurer Ethias, whose existing €250m subordinated bonds have plunged in price since February on news that the firm requires fresh capital to deal with its financial woes, is considering the sale of as much as €500m in new perpetual subordinated debt.

The €245m loan supporting PAI Partners’ acquisition of AS Adventure, the branded outdoor and travel products retailer, has an original issue discount of 99.

Saudi Arabia’s Petro Rabigh has signed Sr19.38bn ($5.2bn) of loan agreements — including an Islamic finance component — with a mix of international, regional and local lenders.

Moody’s announced on Tuesday that it will be re-evaluating more than 1,000 of the credit ratings it assigns to financial institutions, following its introduction of a new methodology for assessing banks.

Alliance Oil has repurchased $51m of its 9.875% 2015s which were due to mature on March 11. It hopes to extend the maturity of the remaining bonds by four years.

The Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait priced its five year Eurobond at the top of guidance on Wednesday after a two day execution.