UK

BNP Paribas took advantage of the thirst for duration in the euro bond market on Thursday, offering investors a chance to get hold of long dated non-preferred senior paper.

Equity bankers have predicted a strong end to 2020 for primary issuance as more companies seek to raise capital to take advantage of bullish market conditions in preparation for 2021.

The UK government tightened guidance for local authority borrowing on Wednesday, in a bid to stymie the riskier borrowing-to-invest models certain UK councils have adopted over the past decade.

The UK Debt Management Office provided an update to its funding programme following the Spending Review and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook on Wednesday.

UK homebuilder Bellway has sold £130m of US private placements, according to market sources, across seven and 10 years. This is likely to be the last broadly marketed USPP deal of the year.

Luminor Bank was more than 3-1/2 times subscribed on its return to the euro market on Wednesday, allowing it to demonstrate a year-on-year improvement in its senior funding costs.

London-listed Gresham House Energy Storage Fund attracted strong interest from investors in its 114.3m share issue as green stocks continue to prove popular with ECM investors.

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Greencore, the Irish food company, has placed £90m of new shares via an accelerated bookbuild on Monday evening.

The UK Municipal Bonds Agency is set to come to market for its third bond ever — this time, on behalf of Warrington Borough Council.

The Renewable Energy Infrastructure Group (Trig), a UK investment trust that invests in assets generating electricity from renewable sources, has launched a non-pre-emptive capital raising on the London Stock Exchange for acquisition funding. However, the size will depend on a shareholder vote in December.

As the UK approaches the end of its Brexit transition period there are growing expectations that a trade deal will be struck with the EU. It is hoped that that will contribute to the factors driving spreads tighter on UK covered bonds.