Bankers look to keep IPO momentum going

When UK/Turkish soda ash maker WE Soda launched its IPO at the end of May it introduced the world to a ubiquitous product few had heard of and offered investors an ESG name that would join the FTSE 100. But the deal was abandoned in mid-June when investors refused to pay a price the company thought reasonable, leaving its chief executive to do a quick U-turn, going from praising the London Stock Exchange as a listing venue to moaning about a lack of support from UK investors. It looked like the debacle might close the market, but ECM bankers ...

Thames Water’s green bondholders are feeling “deceived” about greenwashing of the beleaguered company's ESG credentials as it struggles to prepare its financial results by July 15 against the backdrop of a possible £1bn equity injection or renationalisation. Investors in the £2.8bn of green bonds that Thames issued between 2018 and 2023 are reconsidering their view of the bonds, which were earmarked for water and wastewater treatment works, and renewable energy, and make up around 25% of Thames Water's outstanding bonds. “In our view,...

After issuing Germany’s first sub-sovereign social bond last month, Saxony-Anhalt is set to make the product a core part of its funding. But in contrast to peers that have offered green bonds or sustainable bonds with both green and social use of proceeds, the former East German state is some way from starting any green programme – and plans to confine its eventual issuance to privately placed green MTNs or commercial paper due to its limited eligible expenditures. Rated Aa1/AA/AAA (Moody’s/S&P/Fitch), Saxony-Anhalt operates the smallest...

UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt is expected to outline plans to make it easier for domestic pension funds and insurers to back growth companies as he puts more details on his effort to revive London's capital markets on Monday. In December in Edinburgh, Hunt set out a series of reforms to the UK's capital markets regime to make the most of its status outside the European Union, which he said will allow the UK to be more nimble and flexible. A major thrust has been to persuade the UK’s pension schemes and insurers to invest more of their £5trn...

BNP Paribas Personal Finance was poised to price Noria 2023, a pre-placed public securitisation of French consumer loans, late on Friday. BNP Paribas was sole arranger and lead manager of the deal, which is expected to comply with the requirements for simple, transparent and standardised securitisations. The transaction is a 14-month revolving cash securitisation of personal loans, equipment sale loans and debt consolidation loans, according to ratings agency reports from Moody's and DBRS Morningstar. The size of the portfolio is €500m spread...

Haymaker Acquisition 4 filed late on Monday for a US-listed SPAC IPO targeting US$200m, suggesting that the market is not entirely closed to new blank cheque money and providing a template for serial sponsors. Cantor and William Blair are joint bookrunners. They stand to collect a 5.5% gross fee, one-third upfront and two-thirds when the SPAC completes a merger. Haymaker 4 management could engage other non-affiliated banks for advice but would still be on the hook for the full amount owed to Cantor/William Blair as stipulated under the IPO...

Bankers expect specialist UK RMBS activity to be centred largely on refinancing for the rest of the year amid tough conditions for new mortgage origination. Bank of America has been mandated as arranger and lead manager for one such deal, Oat Hill No.3, which will refinance mostly buy-to-let mortgages previously securitised in Oat Hill No.2. "I expect primary issuance next year to be lower, effectively due to the fact that with the higher interest rates we see right now, it's very tough for the specialist lenders to originate more paper,"...

The European Union will be facing up to new pricing dynamics this week for what is expected to be a tap of one of its longer dated lines as it embarks on its €40bn long-term funding programme for the second half. The supranational's spreads have tightened by a handful of basis points versus govvies since it announced a H2 funding programme that was lower than the market had expected. This means the relative value play that has been a big driver in the borrower's order books has lost some of its shine. "We got a bit of pushback from...

Dutch food company Upfield, owner of Flora Food Group, has set final terms for a €3.89bn-equivalent term loan B that will amend and extend its euro, US dollar and sterling facilities to January 2028 from July 2025. The existing TLB is split into a €2.375bn tranche, a US$833m tranche and a £656m tranche, with existing margins of 350bp over Euribor, 300bp over SOFR and 400bp over Sonia, respectively. The new euro loan margin is 500bp over Euribor, and the US dollar tranche margin is 475bp over SOFR, with the OIDs at 97.5. The tranches had been...

A shift to defensive tenors and a rise in concessions helped spark a sudden revival of the previously fatigued euro covered bond market last week, with Credit Agricole and ANZ New Zealand encapsulating the improving tone with €500m three-year trades that were six and seven times subscribed, respectively. As Credit Agricole's runaway success on Tuesday followed a four-times-covered €500m long three-year Pfandbrief from BayernLB on Monday (see separate story), bankers said the primary market for euro covered bonds felt in much stronger health...

Hotel industry focused REIT Atom Hoteles has signed a €211.5m syndicated loan. €198.7m of the loan refinances existing debt from 2018 while a €12.8m tranche provides additional funds to finance improvements to the company’s portfolio in line with ESG criteria. The loan has a seven-year maturity. Repayments start in year three with a final 85% repayment at maturity. It pays 200bp over three-month Euribor with a 0% floor. Atom has hedged interest rates on 85% of the loan with a fixed rate of 3.16%. It is secured on mortgage guarantees on the...

MRV Engenharia launched on Thursday an all primary follow-on stock sale that could amount to R$750m (US$153m), aimed at cutting debt and capitalising on a sharp stock price rebound this year. BTG Pactual, Bradesco, Itau and Santander are coordinating the sale of 58.64m new shares, adding about 12% to shares outstanding. The banks could sell an additional 19.55m shares via a 33.3% upsize. In Thursday's session, MRV's B3-listed shares closed at R$12.93 apiece, slightly above the previous close, on volume of 18m. The transaction is scheduled to...