UK Sovereign

High yield investors are becoming fussier, after a year when weakly covenanted deals have proliferated.

Ontex, the Belgian nappy maker, priced on Wednesday its €250m high yield bond at par with a 4.75% coupon, as part of a debt restructuring that made Moody’s upgrade its rating one notch to Ba3.

Virgin Money set terms on its IPO on Wednesday, a day after resurrecting the flotation. It was pulled in mid-October amid plunging markets and regulatory worries.

Turkish port operator Global Liman İşletmeleri (Global Ports) on Thursday reduced its debut bond issue by $25m to $250m and priced it at with an 8.125% coupon at a reoffer price of 99.345.

The Bank of England's unveiling of plans to look into providing Shariah liquidity facilities for UK Islamic banks was one of the highlights at last week’s World Islamic Economic Forum in Dubai. It’s a great idea, but there’s just one problem – this should have been done ages ago.

European companies from beleaguered industries, new to the market or under investor pressure had better think twice before they enter a high yield market willing to teach them a lesson before the year ends.

UK challenger bank Virgin Money today restarted its planned London IPO, after having put the deal on hold last month, as a keenly awaited decision from the Bank of England reassured the issuer.

Asset managers River and Mercantile launched an IPO of a new fund on Tuesday, which will invest in micro cap firms.

Fever-Tree, a British firm that makes high end tonics for drinks, completed an IPO on London's AIM on Tuesday.

Santander has built on a strong showing in the European Central Bank’s comprehensive assessment with an impressive set of third quarter results, which included a big rise in earnings for its UK unit and investment bank.

Royal Dutch Shell, like most oil companies a dollar-based issuer, had already blessed the euro market with a €2bn issue this year, in March.

Ontex, the Belgian producer of disposable hygienic products for babies and adults, is beginning on Tuesday a roadshow in London for a €250m high yield bond, after completing its IPO in June.