UK

Retail shareholders have been excluded from a string of recent hot IPOs on the London Stock Exchange. This does little to dispel accusations that financial markets are the preserve of the elite.

Shurgard, one of Europe’s largest self-storage companies, has returned to the US private placement market for the third time, according to market sources. The company is only the second from Europe to launch a PP deal this year.

Autolus Therapeutics, the UK biopharmaceutical company focused on T cell therapies for cancer, is raising additional capital on the Nasdaq.

Equity investors have maintained a focus on gaining exposure to tech stocks so far this year in the primary market, dispelling fears that high-growth digital companies might lose out to cyclical, value stocks that might benefit from the reopening of economies from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lombard Odier has made two senior hires to help cultivate sustainable private credit strategies.

Auction Technologies Group (ATG), the UK technology company that runs online auctions and produces proprietary software for online auctions, has begun investor education for its IPO on the London Stock Exchange and has secured cornerstone orders for the deal.

Huge demand for exposure to biotech companies among US equity investors is continuing to drive UK firms to list on the other side of the Atlantic through an IPO on the Nasdaq. On Thursday, Immunocore, a late-stage biotech firm focused on T-cell technology, priced an enlarged offering on the exchange and, on Friday, UK healthcare investor Syncona announced it was exploring a US IPO for one of its portfolio companies.

Hipgnosis Songs Fund, a London-listed investment trust focused on music royalties, has closed its latest share sale, raising £75m.

Belfius Bank and Santander found strong support among bank treasury investors in the euro market this week, helping them to print new preferred senior deals at very low yields.

Foresight Group, the infrastructure private equity company focused on renewable energy, has closed its IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

US private placement bankers in Europe have called on institutional investors to reduce their yield requirements or face another year of losing out on deals to the public markets.

The Prudential Regulation Authority wants UK lenders to carry out “tactical solutions” over the next six months so that they are ready for the possibility of negative rates later this year.