UK

UK prime minister’s speeches have rarely been market-moving events, despite what some of the more breathless commentators in the broadcast media would have you think. But perhaps this has changed since the Brexit referendum in June, even if the spin doctors manage the message in advance.

The tally of sterling high yield bond sales in January is on course to reach £2bn after Jaguar Land Rover on Thursday launched a new £300m offering, adding to a recent surge of deals in the currency.

UK cable and mobile operator Virgin Media on Wednesday plugged its refinancing bond offering into the sterling market on Wednesday, raising total potential sterling high yield bond sales to near £1.7bn so far this year.

Plans for the Chicago Board Options Exchange to link up with Bats Global Markets took a big step forward this week, with both sets of shareholders approving the exchanges’ merger and a motion to issue shares supporting the deal.

Ever since Theresa May became UK prime minister in July, markets and commentators have thirsted to know what her strategy would be for the negotiations to leave the European Union. Now we know — and so far, the markets like it.

Thames Water, the UK water supplier, shrugged off currency market nerves over UK prime minister Theresa May’s speech about the UK's departure from the EU on Tuesday to engage sterling bond investors with a £500m dual tranche offering.

UK insurer Phoenix Group Holdings tightened pricing by nearly 40bp on Monday for the first ever Solvency II compliant tier three bond in sterling, as investors appeared keen to take on more bonds in the rarely used format.

Lone Star has made its first sale of stock in Forterra, the UK brickmaker, since its IPO last April. The block trade was doubly unusual, in being done on Friday evening and not being led by the IPO bookrunners.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has bolstered its loan syndication and sales effort in London with a hire as the bank looks to establish a stronger foothold in the Europe, Middle East and Africa market.

The sterling high yield bond market on Friday priced its first single-B rated issue of the year, a £275m note from Amigo Loans, a UK consumer lender, with the third highest coupon in the past 12 months for a single-B sterling issue.

The UK Debt Management Office has named the group of banks that will sell its next Gilt syndication.

Close Brothers was warmly welcomed for a new £175m tier two issuance on Friday, as the bank sought to protect its capital ratios amid important changes to the way in which banks must calculate risk weightings for their property loans.