UK

National Australia Bank found itself taking on the might of London mayor Boris Johnson alone on Monday morning, launching a short sterling senior deal as other borrowers shied away from a nervous FIG market.

Vodafone wasted no time catching its breath after closing books on Thursday's £2.9bn convertible bond, as it announced on Friday its intention to raise up to €3bn of conventional bonds as early as Monday.

The extraordinary versatility of convertible bonds — but also the market’s unpredictability — were highlighted on Thursday when Vodafone launched an unprecedented £2.88bn bond designed to achieve the near impossible: debt-like funding that counts as equity but is not dilutive to shareholders, writes Jon Hay.

JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, bookrunners of Vodafone’s unprecedented £2.88bn mandatory convertible bond, have just gone out with a message saying the book for the deal is covered. The book will close at 7.45pm London time.

Thames Water priced a £300m senior secured no-grow bond on Thursday, clinching the deal after two weeks of volatility in its outstanding bonds.

Prospectuses for UK IPOs are now routinely warning investors that the country leaving the European Union is a risk factor — a marked change from last year.

The French bank has simplified its investment banking structure, ending a year of uncertainty and turning the focus of its coverage teams away from London, writes David Rothnie.

(updated with more detailed analysis 2.20pm) Vodafone is today issuing an unprecedented £2.88bn mandatory convertible bond, with many innovative features, that combines aspects of two recent trends in the market: the equity-neutral CB and the subordinated, equity-accounted deal.

Barclays has announced a swathe of debt capital markets promotions, several new desk heads, and a new structure for EMEA, following last week's changes to the DCM management team.

Circle Property, a specialist regional UK property business, traded up 2.7% after floating on London’s junior Aim stockmarket on Tuesday.

Emmanuel Smiecench, former managing director on the sovereign, supranational and agency syndicate desk at Société Générale, has returned to the market.

Pendragon, the UK car dealer, has refinanced its debt, issuing a private placement and signing a new unsecured club revolving credit facility that cut its margin by a hefty 85bp.