UK

A £443.7m block trade in Avast, the London-listed Czech cyber security firm, on Tuesday night, has given confidence to equity bankers that deals can still be done this autumn, even when political volatility appears severe.

Paddy Power is looking to sell US private placements in the next few weeks, according to market participants, as the Irish bookmaker is set to recreate the success of Australian peers in the market.

J2 Acquisition Ltd, a blank cheque company set up by former Jarden Corp chairman Martin Franklin, has signed a multi-billion dollar acquisition deal, almost two years on from its $1.25bn IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

ING and RiverRock have struck a deal to give the asset manager access to ING’s pipeline of senior loans, as part of the launch of RiverRock’s debut senior loan fund. The Dutch bank, unlike other commercial banks, committed to avoid cherry-picking its pipeline, and to show RiverRock everything that was eligible for the fund.

Global banks have been stepping up their pitches to win the mandate for oil giant Saudi Aramco's $100bn IPO during the second week of meetings, as competition heated up to win a spot on the on-again, off-again blockbuster sale.

The European IPO market has been reopened with the listings of TeamViewer, the German remote access software provider, and Swedish private equity house EQT. However, with investors continuing to position more defensively bankers expect valuation pressure to remain.

London football club Tottenham Hotspur FC has sold £525m of US private placements, according to sources familiar with the situation, to pay off bank loans which funded the construction of its new stadium.

Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Ltd, the London-listed investment fund that specialises in private debt and infrastructure bonds, is preparing to raise £146m to take advantage of a growing pipeline of investment opportunities, despite the political volatility in the UK.

Barclays' head of private capital markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa has decided to leave the bank.

The UK Debt Management Office on Friday announced the syndicate that will run its forthcoming tap of the 2054 Gilt, as well as its plans for a further Gilt syndication to be held during the third quarter of 2019.

Existing shareholders were shown no mercy as Thomas Cook’s creditors and Chinese conglomerate Fosun reached an initial £900m agreement to recapitalise the company and divide up the assets. The creditors get most of the healthier airline business, while Fosun takes the bulk of the declining package holiday business.

Lenders unconcerned as recession portents mount — Booking Holdings gets global group for revolver — Pemberton raises €3.2bn more for Europe’s mid-market — Eurotorg re-enters rouble debt market