UK

The UK Debt Management Office (DMO) raised £4bn after it reopened its 2054 Gilt this week with market participants signalling their preference for the maturity rather than even longer maturities, said chief executive Robert Stheeman.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing’s (HKEX) surprise £31.6bn takeover bid for the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) is being hailed by some ECM bankers as a complementary acquisition that will bring markets in the east and west closer together. But the political fires raging in London and Hong Kong have put the proposal’s success in serious doubt, write Jonathan Breen and Aidan Gregory.

Bank of Montreal was marketing a senior preferred bond in sterling on Tuesday, one day after Rothesay Life gave FIG investors a chance to put their money in tier two in the same currency. The Canadian issuer started its trade with a 15bp-20bp concession, according to a banker off the deal.

Swedish credit management company Intrum this week completed a €850m issue of new senior notes, pricing at 3% and increasing the size of the offering from the initial €750m. UK-based gambling giant International Game Technology also dipped into the “most issuer-friendly market ever” with €500m bond.

The UK Debt Management (DMO) and European Investment Bank reopened a quiet sterling market on Tuesday with a pair of syndicated taps, which bankers feel will leave issuers and investors "confident" to follow.

Rothesay Life chose a quieter day in UK politics to issue a tier two in the sterling market on Tuesday. It also took advantage of the lack of supply in the currency and the deal was oversubscribed four times its £400m size.

Merian Chrysalis Investment Co, the closed-end investment fund focused on private companies, has launched its second follow-on offering since it listed on the London Stock Exchange in November last year.

Swedish credit management company Intrum and UK-based gambling giant International Game Technology dipped into the favourable markets again with big €750m and €500m issues .

Radius is set to become the first housing association from Northern Ireland to issue US private placements, with Barclays prepping a deal of at least £100m.

Two of the smaller airports in England are looking to raise US private placements, according to sources in the market, as players note that airports and port operators in Australia and Europe have carved out a particularly strong section of the market in the past 12 months.

Bank of Ireland was unable to complete the sale of a tier two transaction this week, after the UK Parliament descended in chaos. Bond buyers have by and large taken a pragmatic approach during Brexit negotiations, but market participants said that on this occasion the Irish issuer had “misjudged” how nervous investors were, writes David Freitas.

A chaotic weak in Britain’s Parliament has cast further uncertainty over UK ECM as sellers consider whether to bring forward transactions to avoid running up against a potential new Brexit deadline in January. However, talk of a general election this autumn could make execution difficult.