UK

Aquila Capital, the Hamburg-based alternative asset manager, is has raised €154.3m for its new float, a renewable energy fund in London which is unusual in giving exposure to wind, solar and hydroelectric power.

The UK equity capital market showed its robustness this week with deals well-received amid political crises that show no sign of abating. Bankers are focused on bringing equity stories that can succeed despite the turmoil of Brexit, aware that investors will be selective and more are turning underweight on the country, writes Sam Kerr.

The City of London Corporation, via its endowment fund ‘The City’s Cash’, is set to enter the US private placement (PP) market for the first time. The funds will be partly used to finance the consolidation of the Billingsgate, Smithfield and Spitalfields wholesale food markets at a new site in Dagenham, Essex.

Shares in Watches of Switzerland, the UK luxury watch retailer, surged in the aftermarket on Thursday after the company priced its £220m ($277.46m) IPO a day early in the upper half of the price range.

Trainline, the UK transport booking website, said on Tuesday that it plans to raise £75m of new capital, having confirmed its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange.

Hiddensee, a new research provider, is aiming to take advantage of MiFID II’s unbundling requirements by giving analysts a platform to work independently and allowing investors to pay for specific researchers or reports.

UK capital markets issuers and investors who want to do deals need to prepare to ignore Brexit and come to market. There is no sense in waiting for political calm — the European election result shows it simply is not going to come.

Sellers of the IPO of Trainline, the UK transport booking website, are confident that the listing is a strong enough prospect to withstand any political pressures affecting the UK, including a Labour government intent on nationalising the country’s railways.

Tritax Eurobox, the UK real estate investment trust focused on continental European logistical properties, has completed its latest €135m growth capital raise, despite a tough equity market backdrop.

Shares in Serco, the UK outsourcing company, rose more than 8% on Thursday morning after the company announced a £130m growth capital raise to finance the takeover of Alion’s naval design and systems engineering business, a leading supplier of services to the US armed forces.

Société Générale has moved one of its London bankers to Hong Kong to take over as head of the Asia Pacific debt capital markets syndicate team.

CME Group’s fixed income electronic trading platforms business is launching a dealer-to-client Request for Quote (RFQ) trading product for the European repo market.