UK

Great Portland Estates, the UK real estate investment trust, is looking to close a set of private placements next week, according to market sources.

IAG, the airline holding company which owns British Airways, has launched a €2.75bn (£2.49bn) rights issue to give it enough liquidity to withstand Covid-19 disruption until 2023.

UK lenders used the second quarter of 2020 to ramp up their provisions against loan losses, greatly exceeding the market’s already high expectations for new reserves

Regular credits in the private placement markets in Europe, like UK utilities, have disappeared from the scene since the coronavirus pandemic began because investors have not managed to reduce their yield targets to compete with pricing in public markets. Silas Brown reports.

James Palmer has been named interim head of equity capital markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Bank of America. He replaces Sam Losada, who is leaving the bank to join Morgan Stanley.

The Co-operative Bank has said that its future could be in ‘significant doubt’ if it fails to make headway on plans to raise £550m ($719.46m) for its minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) by 2022. The UK lender is hoping to get going in the second half of this year.

Banks will have a very small window for issuing debt in the rest of 2020, with fears over rising coronavirus infections and US politics expected to bring volatility back into the market, deal arrangers have warned.

Mitie Group, the UK outsourcing and facilities management company has completed its £200m rights issue, with over 93% of shareholders taking up their shares with the remainder sold to the market on Wednesday morning.

Fintech was one of the hottest sectors in equity capital markets in 2019 and it seems to have lost none on its appeal during the coronavirus pandemic, as two deals on Tuesday demonstrated.

The European Central Bank recommended this week that banks do not pay dividends or buy back shares until the start of 2021 at the earliest. It is also calling for 'extreme moderation' over banker bonuses during the coronavirus pandemic.

Equity bankers have expressed fear that issuing IPOs this autumn is set to be far harder than expected, with Covd-19 showing little sign of abating and a second wave feared in the colder months.

At a consultation on Monday, Gilt-Edged Market Makers and investors were divided on the UK’s proposal for a new 15 year Gilt to be sold through syndication in September.