UBS

While the last few years have been all about the European high yield bond market rapidly developing into a dependable financing source for private equity sponsors, 2015 saw the loan market fight back. But as Max Bower and Victor Jimenez point out, it has done so at a time when LBO sponsors face increasing competition from IPOs and trade buyers.

IPO, rights issue and equity-linked volume were all down in 2015, so the fact that block trades maintained their 2014 level of issuance made them the stand-out business of the year in equity capital markets. Now stocks participants are asking themselves if they can keep up the pace. Olivier Holmey reports.

After the second half of last year proved a real headache for primary issuance, participants in the European IPO market are readying themselves to brave markets that could be just as choppy in the first half of 2016. As Olivier Holmey reports, some of 2015’s innovations are likely to become widespread.

Barclays has printed one of the largest dollar senior trades from a European bank in recent memory, as it and Santander UK took home $5bn of holding company debt between them on Tuesday.

Credit Suisse and UBS dominated Dealogic’s European FIG bookrunner rankings for 2015, helped by their issuer parents cranking up their issuance of holdco and capital instruments.

Dalian Port Co is waiting for market volatility to recede before completing an H-share placement that could raise around HK$5.83bn ($752.05m) based on its market capitalisation.

A CEEMEA DCM banker who left UBS in 2014, will be joining Chalkhill Partners, an investment banking boutique, in January.

Xinte Energy Co wrapped up bookbuilding on Tuesday for its HK$1.29bn ($166m) IPO in Hong Kong, one of the last listings in the city this year, with shares pricing at the bottom of the range.

Extraordinarily low volumes of new bonds this year meant that 2015 rivalled the financial crisis of 2008-2009 for the pace of high profile CEEMEA staffing changes on syndicate and DCM. Where are they all now?

Aegean Oil Terminal Corp, a Greek oil rig construction firm, has signed a $120m loan with four Gulf banks.

UBS successfully completed a cash tender offer for Sfr6.1bn ($6.12bn) of its securities on Thursday, as the group looks to further strengthen its capital base.

Market participants expect a large step up in senior holdco issuance early next year, putting further pressure on spreads and pushing some issuers further afield for funding.