UK

Bank of America reopened the market for financial institution bonds in euros this week and was followed by a slew of other deals as investors welcomed wider spreads and new issue concessions.

The coronavirus crisis has made it difficult for banks to know how much wholesale funding they will need in the coming years. But when a window opened in the primary market this week, issuers showed that they are still focused on trying to build up their levels of total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC), write Tyler Davies, David Freitas and Bill Thornhill.

European corporates facing months of operational lockdown in the face of the coronavirus pandemic are turning to equity capital markets to secure their survival. But they need to be quick about it with markets so volatile, meaning banks are exploring how to get them in and out of the market without putting them through the long, arduous process of a rights issue.

The volume of new euro senior debt sold by banks has hit €10bn this week, following deals from Barclays, Credit Suisse and NatWest Markets on Thursday. Yield and spread levels remain high, but market participants have been delighted to see investors throwing their confidence behind new transactions in the middle of the coronavirus crisis.

UK chemicals firm Johnson Matthey is looking for a target of $300m US private placement funding, with arrangers more confident of selling dollar debt than euro or sterling flavours.

Banks took advantage of a huge rally in UK equities on Tuesday to launch a placing in SSP, a UK food outlet operator, in order to give it the cash required to strengthen its balance sheet, working capital and liquidity position because of disruption caused by Covid-19.

New senior bank bonds are proving attractive to investors at about 40bp-50bp or more over secondary levels, with UK issuers Lloyds and HSBC joining US peers in returning to the new issue market this week.

JP Morgan Chase has sold £59m of shares in BT Group, the UK telecommunications company, on behalf of former holders of BT’s American Depositary Receipts.

GSO Capital Partners, the credit unit of private equity firm Blackstone, has raised roughly $4.5bn for its second European direct lending fund, according to an SEC filing. But as the coronavirus pandemic wrecks corporate balance sheets, several sources are concerned with how European companies will fare.

The UK government’s offer on Friday to pay 80% of the wages of furloughed workers came in the nick of time to save thousands of jobs in manufacturing and services. But few of those affected realised they were benefiting from a German idea. The move highlights how the coronavirus crisis is causing a rapid dissemination of techniques around the world.

NMC Health’s $360m convertible bonds are trading at mere cents on the dollar, suggesting virtually no recovery value after the scandal-hit UAE hospitals group said on Tuesday it had discovered even more undisclosed debt.

The UK government’s decision to lock down the country on Monday night has increased talk that companies, retailers in particular, will soon need equity capital market funding. However, with market volatility still high, recapitalisations will have to be small, or they will have to wait.