UK

Two more sterling benchmarks from investment grade corporates hit the market on Thursday, extending a strong week for bonds in the currency.

HSBC launched $3.75bn of senior bonds from its holding company this week, taking advantage of more stable market conditions to top TLAC issuance up to $30bn this year alone.

The London Stock Exchange this week moved to deflect a mounting list of European Commission concerns about its proposed merger with Deutsche Börse by saying it would consider selling off its LCH SA French clearing business.

BASF SE was on Wednesday set to become the first sterling issuer into the primary market with an outstanding bond that is already eligible for purchase under the Bank of England’s Corporate Bond Purchase Scheme, which kicked off on Tuesday.

Phoenix Group Holdings, the UK life insurer and asset manager, will carry out a £735m rights issue to partly finance its takeover of Abbey Life, which it announced on Wednesday morning, causing its share price to rise by 3.6%.

UK asset manager Pemberton launched a £500m mid-market all-sterling direct lending fund this week, with one market participant arguing that opportunities in the space will expand because European banks are “the worst pricers of credit” in the market.

Shareholders of the Baltic Exchange have approved the firm’s takeover by the Singapore Exchange.

Babcock International, the UK support company for infrastructure and defence services, issued a £250m no-grow bond on Tuesday, the same day the Bank of England began buying sterling corporate bonds.

Vodafone shrugged off a troubling start to the week for primary bond markets on Tuesday by selling a benchmark long seven year transaction that was more than three times oversubscribed and won a single digit concession.

Danske looked to the sterling market for a short-dated floater on Tuesday, finding a safe place to raise funding while turbulence rocks euros.

Four high yield issuers are aiming to tap into improving sentiment in the corporate sterling market as the Bank of England readies its corporate bond purchase programme for Tuesday.

High Speed Rail Finance, the financing vehicle for the High Speed 1 (HS1) project — the train line between London and the channel tunnel to France — said on Monday it was planning on issuing £314m of private placement notes.