UK Sovereign

British Sky Broadcasting, the UK pay TV company, priced €850m and £750m of listed bonds on Monday over three maturities to fund its acquisition of Sky Deutschland. The deal was no blowout — one tranche was priced at the level of initial price thoughts, the others only 5bp tighter — but with an additional €400m from a private placement on the same day, Sky says it has now completed the financing for its acquisitions.

Most high yield companies in Europe newly rated since 2010 have fallen short of their own growth forecasts, Moody's has found, and economic conditions spell further challenges in 2014.

Abengoa’s shares and bonds have bounced back this week, after their dizzying falls at the end of last week, when investors were alarmed that the Spanish renewable energy company had classified its recent green bond issue as non-recourse debt. But the securities are not right back to their previous levels, suggesting concerns linger about the company.

Virgin Money, the UK challenger bank backed by Richard Branson and Wilbur Ross, succeeded in pricing its £312m IPO on Wednesday, though at the bottom of the price range. The sale brought the former Northern Rock back to the stockmarket, six and a half years after it was nationalised after suffering a deposit run in 2007.

Playtech, the UK gaming software developer, on Wednesday completed a €297m senior, unsecured convertible bond due 2019.

Playtech, the UK gaming software developer, on Wednesday completed a €297m senior, unsecured convertible bond due 2019.

Sterling investors got a rare treat on Thursday from Yorkshire Building Society, which re-entered the tier two market for the first time in years, building a four times oversubscribed book.

Lloyds Bank returned to the Samurai market for the first time in more than three years on Thursday with a ¥48bn ($415m) five year deal.

UniCredit has hired Maximilian Biagosch, former head of finance at Permira, as its new head of high yield syndicate.

The International Finance Corporation has scored a double first in its efforts to further the internationalisation of Indian rupee bond markets by issuing the longest dated offshore deal in the currency and listing it in London.

Waste Italia, a waste management subsidiary of Italy's Gruppo Sostenya, priced its debut bond on Thursday afternoon in New York time, though it had to sweeten the terms for investors.

Yorkshire Building Society is set to sell its first tier two bond in years, building a substantial book for a £250m 10 year non-call five year.