UK

One area of European credit not reflecting the global market's bearish tone on Monday was iTraxx options trading, where traders reported plenty of demand among participants to sell volatility even as spreads continued to widen.

British retailer House of Fraser on Monday announced a £175m floating rate issue, part of an all debt refinancing strategy that includes loans and new revolving credit facilities.

The European high yield market this week saw towering deals like SoftBank’s $4.5bn and Synlab’s €1.1bn, but investors also found a place in their portfolios for smaller notes.

Bluefield Partners, the UK investment adviser focused on solar power infrastructure, is pressing on with its bid to float a fund, Bluefield European Solar Fund, despite the failure of a similar deal today.

Greater stability in European credit spreads has brought a big reversal of iTraxx index options, say traders, after the volatility skew reached an all time record inversion during the recent Greece debt negotiations.

J Sainsbury, the UK supermarket chain, raised £500m of hybrid capital on Thursday with twin issues of a convertible bond and a regular hybrid bond.

Bayside Capital, a credit investment firm and affiliate of private equity house HIG Capital, has lost a managing director and a founding member of its European credit platform.

UBS has added to its emerging market credit sales capabilities with a hire from Mizuho.

The all-important deadline of July 20 passed without incident, Greece having redeemed its debt to the ECB with the help of a bridging loan. That doesn’t mean the crisis in Greece is resolved – far from it – but it does give the market some breathing space.

Nationwide Building Society stood out on another busy day in the covered bond market, shaking off three rivals to print a €1bn mortgage backed bond on Thursday in line with Lloyds and Bank of Nova Scotia.

A return of stability in the European credit market has exposed mounting concerns for companies involved in commodities trading, with sector names underperforming credit indices and cash bonds.

StormHarbour said it has hired Federico Buccellati, the former head of advisory for southern Europe at HSBC, as a senior advisor.