UK Sovereign

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.

Two UK companies completed cash-box placings on Wednesday, and both found plenty of demand. Essentra, which makes small components and packaging products, raised £168.8m of new capital, while Workspace Group, the provider of serviced offices in London, raised £96.5m.

Virgin Money, the UK challenger bank backed by Richard Branson and Wilbur Ross, succeeded in pricing its IPO today, though at the bottom of the price range.

British oil and gas company BG Group issued €775m eight and €800m 15 year bonds on Wednesday, in a week of strong issuance of European investment grade corporate bonds.

Alliance Automotive has issued a two tranche bond to fund the French-UK car parts distributor’s buyout in August by Blackstone and the company's founders from Weinberg Capital Partners.

Votes are rolling in to decide this year’s winners of the GlobalCapital Syndicated Loans and Leveraged Finance Awards. There is still time to complete the poll, but the deadline is fast approaching.