UK

Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital has completed a £116m growth capital raising to fund further M&A opportunities.

The UK Debt Management Office outlined its borrowing plan for the period of September through to the end of November on Thursday, announcing that it plans to issue a minimum of two syndicated Gilts and 38 auctions during the period as its funding needs soar to unprecedented levels as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

HSBC’s global head of ECM is under no illusions about the challenges the bank faces but says HSBC’s restructuring is not one of them. David Rothnie reports.

Nationwide Building Society put an end to a two year absence from the euro senior market this week, taking advantage of solid issuance conditions to bring in €1bn of new funding.

Rishi Sunak, the UK chancellor of the exchequer, has already thrown some cash from the air to boost the economy and prevent a more serious downturn, with job retention measures, a cut in VAT and meal vouchers. But that won’t be enough. The UK needs a full scale helicopter drop.

UK equity capital markets have undergone changes during the Covid-19 pandemic, including allowing retail investors to participate in accelerated recapitalisations of London-listed companies via PrimaryBid. The rise of the app represents a long overdue change but its impact is likely to be limited.

Equity investors have welcomed rumours that Japanese conglomerate Softbank is exploring a potential IPO for Arm, the UK semiconductor and software designer, and are hoping that the company might return to the London Stock Exchange.

Fitch played down fears about the impact of payment holidays on UK covered bond pools this week, arguing that high credit quality would offer a strong line of defence against defaults.

Investors have been given their first taste of how regulatory relief could bolster bank capital levels amid Covid-19, after Barclays told the market this week to expect a drastic improvement in its common equity tier one (CET1) ratio in the second quarter.

IP Group has sold £53.5m of shares in Ceres Power Holding, the UK solid oxide fuel cell maker, via an accelerated bookbuild.

Adrian Lewis, the long-serving head of EMEA equity capital markets at HSBC, left the bank at the end of June to pursue other opportunities unrelated to investment banking and ECM.

HIG Capital has appointed a new head of HIG WhiteHorse Europe, the private equity firm’s European direct lending affiliate.