Nomura

Co-op Pharmacy will hold a bank meeting this Friday to market a £725m loan that backs its buyout by Bestway, the UK food wholesale group.

Ed Steel, former managing director and global head of equity derivatives trading at Standard Chartered in Hong Kong, has joined Nomura in London.

Borse Dubai closed the books last night on the sale of a 3.1% stake in the London Stock Exchange Group for £171.7m, as it readies funds to fully subscribe to the UK exchange’s planned rights issue.

West China Cement marked a successful return to the bond market on September 4 by pricing a five year non-call three deal well through its closest comparable — Yingde Gases Investment. The bond was built on the back of strong anchor support, which was surprising given the predicament the Chinese cement industry finds itself in.

Australian gaming products maker Aristocrat Leisure is eyeing the US market for a $1.3bn seven year senior secured term loan. The company plans to use the money to fund its acquisition of US gaming operator Video Gaming Technologies and to refinance debt.

Rating: Ba1/BB/BB+

From being all but frozen out of the capital markets a little over two years ago, eurozone periphery sovereigns could soon be in the position to dictate terms and push investors on duration, said bankers this week, following Portugal’s return to the 15 year part of the curve for the first time since the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Spain’s longest ever print. New measures from the European Central Bank that sent yields tumbling could put the sovereigns in an even stronger position, although that might not extend to Greece, which is planning a seven year bond for later this year.

The Central Bank of Tunisia has hired Nomura to arrange a yen deal. The deal will be backed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, said a source close to the deal.

West China Cement will meet investors in Asia and Europe for a new dollar offering starting next week. The borrower is looking to raise money to redeem its existing bonds.

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

Unédic is set to become the third issuer this week to bring a euro benchmark after the summer, having mandated a deal for Friday following deals for Finland and Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten (BNG) earlier in the week.

Svenska Handelsbanken prefaced what is expected to be a busy September for Samurai issuance on Thursday. The issuer drew an oversubscribed book for a five tranche deal, with more deals expected to follow as issuers look to take advantage of a favourable basis swap.