UBS

Athene Global Funding encountered slim demand on its return to the sterling market this week, but UBS had better luck at the short end of the maturity curve.

BPER Banca and UBS ventured out into the euro market on Thursday. After a quiet few days, issuance is ramping up as rates volatility subsides, with bankers expecting a light shower of deals ahead of Easter.

Europe’s high grade bond market continued to pump out deals on Wednesday, with Vantage Towers raising three tranches of debt after its IPO and Japan’s Nidec selling a green trade.

Dufry, the Swiss duty-free concession operator, has issued a new five-year Sfr500m convertible bond to help refinance the Sfr350m three-year convertible it received in April 2020 following the initial onset of the pandemic, which caused a collapse in the company’s share price.

China SCE Group Holdings managed to raise $300m from a narrow issuance window on Tuesday, just as sentiment started to sour around the country’s high yield property bond market.

Paragon Banking Group has concluded a liability management exercise by replacing a large chunk of its outstanding tier two debt with new green paper.

Bilibili, a Chinese video sharing and gaming platform, has raised HK$20.2bn ($2.6bn) from its Hong Kong secondary listing, following a strong turnout from institutional investors.

Rating: A3/A-/A-

Piraeus Bank is hoping to raise €600m of additional tier one capital as part of a set of actions aimed at strengthening its balance sheet. This week’s announcement comes a few months after the Greek lender had to convert €2bn of government-held contingent convertibles into equity.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has had a stellar week, hosting two secondary listings worth about $6bn in total in quick succession. The latest out of the gate is Chinese video sharing and gaming platform Bilibili, which kicked off a potential $3bn float within hours of internet giant Baidu wrapping up its multi-billion-dollar deal. Jonathan Breen reports.

Paragon Banking Group this week became the first UK lender to launch a subordinated bond in an ESG format. The bank was looking to replace its only outstanding tier two with a new green-labelled transaction.

Singapore's Clifford Capital returned to the offshore bond market this week to raise $500m.