UK

HSBC is mulling bolt-on acquisitions in wealth management, primarily in Asia, after capital was freed up by a favourable reassessment of credit losses stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.

The UK Debt Management Office raised £6bn with its first syndication of the financial year. Although one investor said the spread was more generous than he expected, the trade drew praise for the smoothness of its execution.

Investors wasted little time placing orders for Nationwide Building Society’s 20 year covered bond on Tuesday, reflecting the rare and chunky yield on offer and the expectation that this could potentially be their only chance to buy UK covered bonds in euros this year.

Nationwide Building Society plans to issue the first euro denominated covered bond from a UK issuer this year and the first since Brexit was concluded. The €500m deal comes after a series of successful Canadian covered bonds, but unlike them it has a much longer 20 year maturity.

UK broker Peel Hunt and Santander have joined forces to do deals for UK corporate clients seeking to raise equity capital. Peel Hunt will now have the firepower of Santander’s balance sheet to be able to underwrite both primary and secondary transactions for its large UK clients.

Legal & General has lent Believe Housing, a UK housing association, £85m with margins tied to its energy transition. This is the first sustainability-linked private placement in the UK social housing sector, according to GlobalCapital research.

The UK Debt Management Office reduced its borrowing programme on Friday following a lower funding requirement for its previous financial year than it had originally expected.

Gore Street Energy Storage Fund, the London-listed closed end investment fund focused on energy storage assets, has tapped equity capital markets for £135m to finance the company’s burgeoning pipeline of around 1.3gw of investment opportunities.

Equity investors continued to show strong demand for follow-on primary deals this week with high take-ups in capital raises for Spain’s Cellnex and UK food and beverage outlet operator SSP.

Commodity trader Trafigura has sold US private placements, according to market sources, in its sixth issuance in the market.

Let history show that even though no one even kicked a ball in the European Super League, it still had a winner: JP Morgan.

French train lessor Akiem has issued €290m of green US private placements, joining the likes of LondonMetric, Montea and King's College in drawing the market further into green and sustainable finance.