UK

Anglian Water priced the first green corporate bond in sterling since 2015 on Monday. The company’s green bond debut could herald a surge of deals from its peers, writes Nigel Owen.

On Wednesday, the UK’s Institute of Directors, the organisation that represents company directors and business leaders, became the latest lobby group to voice its concern at the Financial Conduct Authority’s proposal to create a new premium listing category for sovereign-owned companies.

Friday will mark the first anniversary of the Bank of England’s announcement it would be commencing its Corporate Bond Purchase Scheme. This prompted one of the busiest Augusts on record in the sterling corporate bond market. Bankers and investors are hoping the passing of this week’s Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Thursday will provide another catalyst for summer issuance.

A solitary capital increase from Monday was the stand-out trade of a meagre bunch in equity capital markets this week, with the IPO market on pause until September.

A London daily silver futures contract will trade on the Intercontinental Exchange Futures US platform from September 5.

Bridgepoint is close to a deal for UK housebuilder Miller Homes from Blackstone, for around five times its projected Ebitda for 2017.

Anglian Water, priced a £250m eight year green bond on Monday. The size and tenor are unremarkable, and in a generation of sustainability and responsibility, a green bond should cause similarly few ripples. However, this was the first sterling-denominated green bond issued by a corporate borrower since 2015.

Westpac this week followed Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in taking advantage of a glut of sterling covered bond liquidity. It issued a sizeable five year sterling covered bond which is expected to provide cheaper funding than the euro or dollar equivalent, boding well for additional supply.

China Resources Land plans to issue its first mortgage or management fee-backed securities by the end of 2017, chief financial officer James Yu has told GlobalCapital Asia's sister publication GlobalRMB.

United Biscuits, the maker of McVitie’s biscuits and Jacob's crackers, is to sign a £725m syndicated loan facility in the coming weeks to refinance a loan taken out in 2015 to fund its acquisition by Turkey’s Yıldız Holding.

Anglian Water priced a £250m eight year bond on Monday, its first green bond and the first from a UK water company since the Green Bond Principles were introduced in 2015.

Strix Group, the UK maker of kettle safety components, has successfully concluded its £190m IPO on London’s Alternative Investment Market.