UK

Market participants argued that the European Commission could have gone further this week to ease leverage ratio constraints on banks during the coronavirus crisis.

Lloyds Development Capital, the private equity arm of Lloyds Bank, has sold a chunk of its stake in Yorkshire-based games developer Team17 after the stock hit an all-time high due to a huge increase in the volume of gamers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Barclays saw its common equity tier one capital ratio fall 70bp amid balance sheet growth in the first quarter, but analysts suggest the bank should be able to maintain enough capital to carry on paying additional tier one coupons this year.

Banco Santander wasted no time in heading to the non-preferred senior market this week, with investors responding well to the way in which European banks have been dealing with the coronavirus pandemic in their first quarter results.

Hiscox, the London-listed insurance and reinsurance company, is exploring the idea of raising equity to combat uncertainty surrounding the impact of the coronavirus as premiums, particularly in the US, harden.

Supermarket Income Reit, the UK real estate investment trust focused on grocery stores, has attracted strong demand for its latest capital raising to fund new investment opportunities that may arise from the Covid-19 pandemic.

More UK councils are considering selling private placements, according to several sources familiar with the situation, as their funding needs escalate thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Institutional investors, some of which are sceptical of local authorities’ suitability for the US PP market, say they are more likely to consider lending to borrowers rich in assets.

The Financial Conduct Authority has written to UK banks warning them against pressuring clients for mandates on Covid-19 equity capital raises using their lending relationship as justification.

Beijing Enterprises Clean Energy Group (BECE) has returned with a three year renminbi-denominated puttable bond, bringing yet another green transaction to the Panda market.

Greencoat UK Wind, the highly acquisitive UK investment fund focused on UK wind farms has entered an agreement to acquire a Scottish wind farm for £320m. Greencoat has all the financing it needs already to complete the deal, scheduled to close in the first quarter 2023, but it is looking at further acquisitions and could turn to equity to finance it.

Deutsche Bank’s additional tier ones surged higher in value this week, after the German lender reassured the market with positive guidance on its first quarter earnings.

Wells Fargo was set to raise €3bn of senior debt in the euro market on Friday, becoming the first US bank to visit the currency following first quarter results.