UK

Watches of Switzerland Group, the largest retailer of luxury watches in the UK, is exploring an IPO on the London Stock Exchange to cut its debt and allow its private equity owner Apollo Global Management to sell down some of its shares in the company.

The UK Debt Management Office has mandated four banks for the first Gilt syndication of its 2019/2020 financial year.

Investors eyeing up Tottenham Hotspur’s plan to repay some of its debts by borrowing against its stadium should be wary of buying into a sport that has a long history of burning investors.

Euro investors have become more receptive to UK bank debt this year, leading to a blowout reception for a covered bond from Yorkshire Building Society this week. But issuers are yet to break a long period of silence in sales of unsecured products, mindful as they are of a Brexit hangover in the euro market.

Sirius Minerals, the London-listed miner, has won investor support for the equity leg of a $2.8bn financing project that will fund the largest polyhalite mine in the world.

The euro covered bond market is ‘wide open’ for any UK bank following a successful transaction this week from Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) and before that, Lloyds Bank. This supply could also provide a vital stepping stone to the first UK senior deal in euros this year, said bankers.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group was marketing a long-dated senior bond in the dollar market on Thursday, copying Barclay’s choice of currency with its first deal after results.

UK security and outsourcing company G4S has sold roughly $350m of US private placements with seven and 10 year maturities, as the market shows it still has an appetite for UK support services.

Finablr has set a range on its London IPO, valuing the business at a more conservative multiple than many had expected when the roadshow began. That will please prospective buyers, some of whom were also impressed with an appearance from the company’s billionaire owner, BR Shetty.

Stephanie Sfakianos, BNPP’s head of sustainable capital markets, is retiring from BNP Paribas after 15 years with the bank.

Sirius Minerals, the London-listed miner, has won investor support in the equity financing leg of its new $2.8bn phase two project financing to fund the development of what is intended to be the largest polyhalite mine in the world in the North York Moors near Whitby.

The Manchester Airport Group, which owns Manchester, East Midlands and London Stansted airports, launched a £350m bond on Wednesday. In an investment grade corporate bond market that had otherwise been empty of new issues in the first half of the week, the deal was covered more than 3.5 times.