UK

In a troubled new issue market strewn with casualties, the $1.8bn-plus IPO of ConvaTec, the UK medical supplies maker, got covered at its base size on Tuesday, while Misys, the London-based banking software producer, opened the books for its £650m-£750m IPO with a lower free float than initially planned.

Officials from Madrid this week sent the clearest message yet from a European Union country that the race to grab portions of London’s financial empire has begun.

The sterling corporate bond market maintained some, albeit low, momentum as UK coach operator National Express announced the mandate for a seven year issue in the currency on Thursday.

UK airport Heathrow has agreed £350m ($429.6m) in term loans with tenors of between seven to 12 years. The deal marks the end of an active year of financing for the transit hub.

BNP Paribas has promoted one of its rising stars, underlining a new determination at the bank to translate its supremacy in the corporate banking sector into success across all of its investment banking products, writes David Rothnie.

Shares in Biffa, the UK waste disposal company, have traded flat to fractionally down this week, after it got its IPO done by cutting the price by a fifth from the bottom end of the range.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has reshuffled the senior management of its debt capital markets and corporate banking teams in London.

CME Group is set to introduce six currency futures on its European exchange, taking the number of crosses it has available to 36.

UK government bonds have suffered their biggest monthly loss in over 20 years this week, although the price had begun to recover by Wednesday morning, with a syndicated tap set for later this month.

Despite an IPO market strewn with casualties, three of the largest European IPOs of the year are progressing through bookbuild.

A five year loan for a subsidiary of Employees Provident Fund of Malaysia has entered syndication, three months after the leads were chosen.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority will look over some banks’ shoulders to make sure they are allocating IPOs fairly and is trying to get league table providers to reduce incentives for banks to engage in ‘league table trades’ in the equity blocks market.