UK

The first bond from the UK’s five year old Municipal Bonds Agency will be launched in the next week or two and, thanks to some tweaking of the agency's operating practices, more are set to follow, writes Lewis McLellan.

UK soft drinks company Britvic has entered the US private placement (USPP) market via Rabobank and Santander, on the hunt for sterling debt. As the issuer is a regular and well-loved borrower among institutional investors, the transaction has been described by one banker as “as easy as they come.”

The buy side is keen to be able to buy Gilts that pay a coupon linked to Sonia, investors have told GlobalCapital. The matter was also raised with the UK Debt Management Office, according to the minutes of its latest consultation meeting.

The IPO of Calisen, the UK manufacturer of smart energy meters, was covered on its full size on the first day of marketing. Banks on the deal were pleased with the speed of the bookbuild and the quality of investors placing orders.

National Australia Bank attracted healthy demand for its £1bn five year Sonia-linked covered bond issued on Tuesday, pricing the deal much tighter than where Commonwealth Bank of Australia issued two weeks ago with more demand and at an equivalent cost of euro funding.

Société Générale has mandated leads for a green covered bond, the second to be issued under its Positive Impact framework. At the same time Sparkasse Pforzheim Calw is due with a sub-benchmark Pfandbrief.

Calisen Group, the UK operator of smart meters, has set a price range for its IPO on the London Stock Exchange, following a constructive investor education process. It will come at a discount to listed peers.

Equity capital markets bankers are hoping to get back to work soon after a pause in issuance on Monday because of secondary market fears over the spread of the coronavirus.

German supermarket chain Lidl has raised a £515m-equivalent loan from a consortium of Chinese and Taiwanese lenders for two of its European subsidiaries, in the company’s first outing in Asian capital markets.

Indorama Ventures, a petrochemicals company headquartered in Bangkok, has mandated banks to raise Schuldscheine via a European subsidiary, according to several people familiar with the situation. The deal is a further sign of the instrument’s growing popularity in East Asia.

Cabot Square Alternatives, a new closed end investment fund focused on alternative infrastructure and property assets with an environmental, social and governance angle, has announced its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange.

Lloyds Bank returned to the sterling covered bond market on Monday with its first deal of 2020. It capitalised on the scarcity of short-dated Sonia supply with the first three year bond from a UK issuer in six months, which helped it to price its deal marginally inside fair value.