UK

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.

Coats, the UK industrial thread producer, has signed a $360m loan, adding environmental, social and governance metrics to its bank debt for the first time.

The corporate governance issues surrounding Darktrace, the UK AI cyber security company that confirmed its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange this week, can be generously described as unusual but they are not a shock to the market, and are unlikely to put investors off completely, providing the company seeks a sensible valuation.

The global head of bond syndicate at Standard Chartered has been placed at risk of redundancy. The bank will divide his responsibilities between two other positions, one of which was vacated just last week.

Etalon, the Russian real estate and construction company listed in London, has launched a rights issue to help fund its investment in new land and development.

JP Morgan has emerged as the lender to a new Super League in European football. The US bank is committing to provide at least €3.5bn in debt for infrastructure projects, in the biggest shake-up of the world’s most popular sport in a generation. While highly controversial and not short of criticism, the new league will make its founding clubs more attractive investments.

Synlab, the German laboratory diagnostic services company, has set the terms for its €1bn plus IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.