UK

IAG, the parent of British Airways and Iberia, has become the latest airline company to tap the convertible bond market for financing during the pandemic, as it continues to burn vast amounts of cash amid a slow recovery in global travel.

The financial institutions bond market in euros was on hold on Tuesday, as European issuers saw no reason to rush into doing deals while global equities were selling off and interest rates were being buffeted by expectations of inflation.

Dennis Watson, a managing director and Barclays' head of real estate, has left the bank after some 35 years with the firm.

The UK Treasury sold 580m ordinary shares in NatWest on Monday night at £1.90, a 3.6% discount to the closing price. The sale of the roughly 5% stake for £1.1bn lowered the government's holding in NatWest to 54.8%.

Austrin electricity and gas company Energie Burgenland has launched a Schuldschein deal weeks after another Austrian utility wrapped up a transaction in the same market.

Nordea made a rare entry into the euro tier two market on Monday, taking advantage of strong issuance conditions to steer its pricing in close to fair value.

Aquila Capital, the German investment company focused on sustainable investments, is launching a new London-listed fund focused on energy efficiency assets in Europe.

Crédit Agricole has promoted four staffers to fill vacant and newly created positions in its debt capital markets leadership team, including global head of financial institutions DCM and head of European corporate DCM.

Allen & Overy has hired two leveraged finance partners from rival Linklaters in London.

French steel parts and distribution company Jacquet Metal Service has launched a further Schuldschein, according to sources. The market is gearing up for somewhat of a renaissance after a moribund 2020 and GlobalCapital understands that 10-15 more transactions are set to be launched in May.

US Solar Fund, a London-listed investment trust that focuses on US solar assets, has completed a popular raise on the London stock exchange with demand for the deal exceeding its size.

Liontrust Asset Management is launching a new listed ESG fund on the London Stock Exchange.