United States

Diversified Gas and Oil, the London-listed US oil and gas firm, has raised £69.4m of equity to help fund a package of potential acquisitions, taking advantage of continued low global oil and gas prices.

Fater Belbachir is joining Citi as head of equities, a year after taking on the same position at Barclays. The US bank is changing the leadership structure of its equities and securities services business (ESS).

Chinese hotel company Huazhu Group has returned to the equity-linked market, raising $450m from a bond convertible into its American Depository Shares (ADS).

Chinese company Kingsoft Cloud Holdings has raised $510m after boosting the size of its Nasdaq float.

The record-breaking pace of US corporate bond issuance shows no sign of abating as more than 20 issuers from across the ratings spectrum dashed out of earnings to issue this week, amid red-hot funding conditions.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management makes two SRI hires — Citi appoints Aby for CEEMEA markets — Callaghan joins HSBC for UK M&A

German meal kit delivery company HelloFresh has issued a €175m debut convertible bond to fund growth opportunities after reporting stellar first quarter results, as more consumers dine at home because of the restrictions imposed to help combat the Covid-19 pandemic in its key markets.

Citigroup is determined to emerge as a winner from the Covid-19 crisis and conquer the summit of global investment banking, in the face of any pull to concentrate more on home markets, writes David Rothnie.

Kingsoft Cloud Holdings is on the road with its up to $450m Nasdaq IPO. Thanks to strong pre-launch demand, it is running a quick three-day bookbuild, according to a source close to the deal.

The economic devastation has made an absolute mockery of predicting corporate earnings and therefore, equity valuation. Companies have given up on providing forward guidance leaving equity investors in the strange position of having to pick stocks without the earnings estimates that they have come to depend upon. Undoubtedly, this makes their work harder but it will also mean they must add to their repertoire of techniques for analysing companies. Many will flounder but a few are bound to shine.

Kingsoft Cloud Holdings is looking to raise $450m from its Nasdaq IPO, finalising the listing terms on Monday.

Prospects are rising of a return to normal merger and acquisition activity, despite the continued grip of the Covid-19 pandemic. Telefónica, the Spanish telecoms group, has confirmed it is in talks about combining its UK mobile business O2 with Virgin Media, the quad play telecoms firm owned by Liberty Global.