UK Sovereign

Mothercare completed a rights issue that will fund its digital and international expansion on Monday, with a rump placing for the shares that went unsold in the deal.

Just as a violent storm is sometimes what weather systems require to break a passage of mounting atmospheric pressure, a sudden dose of volatility can also be just what financial markets need to refresh themselves and avoid stagnation or overheating. So it goes too with the pastimes of loans bankers.

Yorkshire Housing, a UK housing association, issued a £140m 30 year senior secured bond in its bond market debut on Friday. The proceeds will be used to build 1,500 homes.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) and China Merchants Group (CMG) signed an agreement on October 22 to establish a strategic alliance for new RMB-denominated products.

The primary covered bond market picked up after a week without any issuance, just as the European Central Bank’s third covered bond purchase programme (CBPP3) got underway. All four deals issued this week were ineligible for the programme which, from a pricing perspective, made more a difference than their preferential treatment under newly established liquidity rules.

YIT — EuropaCorp — Notemachine

Bankers this week heralded the success of Jimmy Choo’s initial public offering, which was priced in the depths of a highly volatile equity market, as vindication of the lean syndicate model. Some hoped it would bring an end to the bulging bank groups branded insane by one financier.

Virgin Money said it would miss its October target for completing its IPO, after it postponed the start of bookbuilding last Friday (October 17). Bankers close to the deal insisted that the company was waiting for more stable markets to return, rather than pulling the deal entirely.

Société Générale will move its London operations to Canary Wharf, consolidating its three different London sites into one building.

British car retailer BCA Marketplace pulled its IPO on Tuesday, blaming continued volatility in global equity markets.

Internet services company Afilias launched an IPO on Tuesday, hoping to list on London's AIM in November.

Spirit Pub Co, which owns chains such as Taylor Walker, Fayre & Square and Wacky Warehouse, has announced it will recommend its shareholders to accept Greene King’s latest takeover bid.