UK

Bain Capital has given in to a laundry list of demands from investors as they snubbed bonds for Kantar, resulting in a delay to the deal's schedule. In a rare case of aggressive investor push-back, covenants have now been flexed to the extreme and initial price thoughts look surprisingly high, given the exceptionally favourable market for new issuers.

Royal Bank of Canada was able to raise £400m of senior funding as though it was on 'autopilot' in the sterling market this week. It is the third Canadian issuer in a month to seek funding in this currency counting as total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC).

UK motion picture visual effects company DNEG is pushing ahead with its IPO on the London Stock Exchange, having formally confirmed its intention to float on Tuesday.

Celia Murray has been appointed as head of M&A and corporate finance for the UK at JP Morgan.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was quick to take advantage of a favourable swing in the sterling-dollar basis swap, to issue its debut Sonia-linked covered bond on Monday, pricing the deal flat to fair value and tighter than where it could have printed in dollars or euros. The scale of demand would have allowed for a much larger deal, suggesting good potential for follow-on supply.

Capital markets have long been unattractive funding routes for UK local authorities as the Public Works Loan Board — a government body that provides loans to public bodies — has offered lending levels that public and private markets could not compete with. But a recent Treasury announcement may have tipped the scales in PP players' favour.

SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust, the London-listed fund focused on energy efficiency projects, has raised £100m as it prepares to ramp up its investment activities.

The next economic downturn will be much more severe than the last financial crisis because firms have twice as much outstanding debt as they did in 2008, said a leading academic this week.

A surprise agreement between the UK government and the European Union has led to renewed optimism for the country's capital markets. There is hope that an orderly Brexit, or even a long extension, will lead to an increase in investment from UK companies, particularly in the form of M&A. Investors are more than willing to finance these deals, write Sam Kerr, Jasper Cox and Mike Turner.

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Hipgnosis Songs Fund Ltd, the London-listed fund that invests in music catalogues, has concluded its share sale, which the company announced last month to finance the acquisition of new song rights.

Investors have piled into bonds to fund the buyout of UK theme park operator Merlin, despite the covenants on the unsecured debt being considered the worst ever. Meanwhile, the “net short” provision, designed to curb CDS investors, looks to have made it to the final documentation for the first time in a European deal.