UK Sovereign

While the financial world has been enduring lay-offs and that ugly word “downsizing” at every turn over the last few years, Commerzbank’s Andrew Nicola has been fighting the tide by producing an army of mini-MTNers.

European credit markets had a nasty turn today, which salespeople and analysts blamed on news that Bill Gross, the so-called “Bond King’”, had decided to leave Pimco, the world’s biggest bond investor – though perhaps just because they wanted something to blame. Yet Babcock International, the UK engineering services group, still managed to issue a €550m bond – its first in the European market.

Virgin Money launched a long-awaited IPO on Thursday, making it the second challenger bank in the market.

SIG, a Sheffield-based specialist building products company, has refinanced a £250m revolving credit facility that was due to mature in May 2015.

Enterprise Inns, the UK pub group, priced £249.521m of senior secured high yield bonds on Tuesday to yield 6%, as part of a liability management exercise.

Enterprise Inns expects to price £200m of 2023 notes on Tuesday, even as market participants begin to question the strength of the sterling high yield bond market following the collapse of UK phone retailer Phones 4U, and the recent struggles of primary issuance in the currency.

RBS has laid out plans for its European loans business, outlining the management structure working for head of loan markets and client management Dave Rome.

WHG Treasury, the financing arm of Walsall Housing Group, priced its first bond on Monday, a £250m senior secured issue, of which £75m will be retained. Investors appear not to have been spooked by housing benefit cuts proposed by the UK government at the weekend, as the bond found strong demand and was priced inside guidance.

European credit markets had a nasty turn today, which salespeople and analysts blamed on news that Bill Gross, the so-called ‘bond king’, had decided to leave Pimco, the world’s biggest bond investor. Yet Babcock International, the UK engineering services group, still managed to issue a €550m bond – its first in the European market, according to Dealogic.

Fast money accounts are going long risk CDX High Yield and shorting the S&P500 hoping to play the decompression between the two.

The London Stock Exchange Group completed its £938m rights issue on Thursday, finding almost complete take-up and selling the remaining shares in a rump placing.

British bank Lloyds sold down another chunk of its holding in commercial peer TSB on Tuesday night, pricing the deal flat with the previous close after strong interest in the highly anticipated deal.