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The planned listing will end a prolonged hiatus in initial public offerings (IPO) on Spain's main market since renewables company Opdenergy's (OPDE.MC) lackluster debut in July. EiDF Solar, which installs solar panels, currently trades on the junior market of the BME Exchange and plans to relist its shares on the senior stock market, known as Mercado Continuo. The group must place more shares with investors to meet a 25% minimum free-float requirement for the country's main market. Shares in EiDF, one of the most actively traded stocks on BME Growth, have rocketed since its stock market debut in 2021. It posted third-quarter 2022 revenues of 315.54 million euros, up from 30.55 million euros the previous year, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 46.86 million euros, up from 7.10 million euros.

☆ Delivery Hero ramps up interest payments to raise 1 bln euro convertible bond
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 13 (Reuters) - Germany's Delivery Hero (DHER.DE) is offering investors significantly higher interest payments than it has done historically to raise 1 billion euros ($1.07 billion) through a new seven-year convertible bond announced on Monday. Though Delivery Hero is a recurrent issuer of equity-linked securities, the deal illustrates a trend among listed European firms choosing to refinance debt through convertible bonds as an alternative to straight-up equity or debt. However, despite rising interest rates, the industrials firm was able to secure cheaper terms than Delivery Hero, an international food-delivery service. Rheinmetall's bonds, due in 2028 and 2030, pay interest of 1.88% and 2.25%, respectively. Alongside the convertible bond sale, the banks on the deal are placing up to 300 million euros worth of existing shares on behalf of convertible bond investors as a hedging manoeuvre.

☆ IONOS shares slip below IPO price at start of trading
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Shares in German web hosting company IONOS dipped below the price of its initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday after Europe's first major stock market debut since Porsche (P911_p.DE) in September. Shares started trading at 18.40 euros apiece and were changing hands at around 18.00 in morning trading. Books closed on Tuesday with a final IPO price of 18.50 euros, the company said. The deal piqued the interest of a significant number of investors, with roughly 750 meetings set up to market the IPO, the source added. Underwriters for the deal may use an "over-allotment" option to issue additional shares, giving the company a free-float of 17.3%.

☆ IONOS sets IPO price guidance at lower end of range
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - German web hosting firm IONOS plans to sell shares at the lower end of the targeted price range in its initial public offering (IPO) on the Frankfurt bourse, a deal seen as a potential icebreaker for the reopening of European markets. The company is offering stock at 18.50 to 19.50 euros ($19.94-$21.02) per share, compared with the original price range of 18.50 euros to 22.50 euros, according to a bookrunner message seen by Reuters on Monday. Books were covered across the full deal size shortly after its official launch on the morning of Jan. 30. The deal is seen as a test of equity investors' appetite for newly publicly traded companies after IPO activity plunged in 2022. ($1 = 0.9277 euros)Reporting by Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro; Editing by Jason Neely and Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Rothschild family plans to take its Paris-listed investment bank private
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Mathieu Rosemain | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Plan to be submitted to shareholders on May 25Shares jump by 17% in early tradingPARIS, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The Rothschild family is seeking to take its Paris-listed investment bank private, Rothschild & Co (ROTH.PA) said on Monday, sending the shares up by almost 17%. Concordia, the family-owned holding and Rothschild & Co's largest shareholder, is poised to file a tender offer for the investment bank's shares at 48 euros each, Rothschild said in a statement. The price represents a premium of 19% compared to Rothschild & Co's previous closing stock price as of Friday, at 40.25 euros. The Rothschild family owns about 55% of the company's shares, according to Refinitiv. Rothschild & Co said it would further inform the market on the private ownership plan on Feb. 13, when it reports full-year results.

☆ Zopa raises $92 million as SoftBank sits out funding round
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro | Iain Withers | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Japanese conglomerate previously led a 220 million pound funding round in late 2021 that valued Zopa at roughly $1 billion. Zopa did not disclose a price tag for the funding round but said it "cements" its unicorn status, awarded to start-ups worth upwards of $1 billion. London-based Zopa started out as a peer-to-peer lender in 2005 and later moved to banking, amassing 2 billion pounds of consumer loans and more than 3 billion pounds of customer savings. In the meantime, Zopa will use the fresh cash to explore potential acquisitions, including of companies of similar size, Janardana said. The company is also considering raising 25 million pounds to 100 million pounds of Tier-2 debt later in the year to firm up its balance sheet, Janardana said, adding that the plans are contingent on the cost of debt.

A trading book includes loans banks have earmarked for sale and are thus marked-to-market, while a banking book is where a lender holds loans and other assets not intended for disposal. This implies a heavy discount of 15 pence on the pound if banks sell the loans at that level. Banks make money also by charging the borrower a fee to provide loans, then sell the loans to third party investors. Reuters could not ascertain the exact size of the hit on the loans sold. On the flipside, loans sold by banks can generate attractive gains for buyers.

[1/2] A trader works at the Frankfurt stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, February 22, 2022. REUTERS/Timm Reichert/File PhotoBERLIN/LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - German web hosting firm IONOS is targeting a market capitalisation of up to 3.15 billion euros ($3.42 billion) in Europe's first major initial public offering (IPO) since sports car maker Porsche last September. Subject to regulatory approval of the IPO prospectus, the offer is expected to run from Jan. 30 to Feb. 7. IPO investors are typically offered a discount to a peer group in compensation for the risk of buying a new stock. Montabaur-based IONOS offers web hosting services and cloud applications to consumers and SMEs in countries including the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Spain and Poland.

☆ Insurer ASR to consider sale of bank acquired in Aegon deal, source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON/AMSTERDAM, Jan 23(Reuters) - Dutch insurer ASR (ASRNL.AS) will consider a sale of its banking arm after completing its acquisition of rival Aegon's (AEGN.AS) domestic operations, a source close to the matter told Reuters. The lending business, however, is likely to be put up for sale, given ASR's previous stance on banking operations, the source said on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private. ASR labelled its original banking arm, ASR Bank, as "non-core" in 2018 and sold part of it to rival Achmea the following year. Aegon Bank had 16.2 billion euros ($17.6 billion) in assets on its balance sheet at the end of 2021, with 735.2 million euros of equity. ASR paid 2.5 billion euros in cash for Aegon's Dutch operations, with Aegon to retain a 30% stake in the enlarged group.

LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Spain's markets and competition regulator is reviewing whether gas distributor Madrilena Red de Gas (MRG) has complied with legislation designed to protect the financial strength of energy distributors, according to two sources familiar with the situation. The amendment grew out of worries about the excessive indebtedness of the gas transportation and distribution networks. The CNMC has not to date published a notice of regulatory action concerning MRG. The filings also show that MRG's ultimate parent Elisandra Spain IV - Elisandra Spain V's sole owner - paid dividends totalling more than 104 million euros to its shareholders. At the end of 2021, MRG carried 925.5 million euros of net adjusted financial debt on its balance sheet, 6.55 times its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), per its latest annual accounts.

Bloomberg had earlier reported that FAB had been exploring an offer for Standard Chartered as part of a plan aimed at building an emerging markets bank, driving StanChart shares up as much as 20%. The Abu Dhabi lender said it had been in "the very early stages of evaluating a possible offer" for the emerging markets-focused bank. Furthermore, the mooted combination of FAB and StanChart would have been subjected to more onerous capital requirements that would burden the resulting lender, a banking source said. FAB was created via a merger between National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank in 2016. The lender sources around half its deposits from the Abu Dhabi government and reported total assets of 1.15 trillion AED ($313.1 billion) as of end-September 2022.

LONDON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) announced a series of staff changes on Tuesday following the departure of the co-head of its European investment banking operation, according to internal memos seen by Reuters and confirmed by a company spokesperson. Monarchi is now sole IBCM head for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), whereas Geller has been named sole global head of M&A. Additionally, William Mansfield, head of EMEA Consumer & Retail M&A, has taken up Deasy's responsibilities as head of EMEA M&A. Deasy's exit, which was first reported by Financial News, is the latest in a string of departures as Credit Suisse embarks on a plan to cut thousands of jobs and shift its focus from investment banking towards more stable wealth management. Alongside the promotions, the Swiss lender also said it had hired Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA) banker Gen Oba as co-head of IBCM in France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

"[But] private equity funds still have significant amounts of dry powder, and by the second half of next year, they will be looking to put some of it to work," he said. Private equity firms normally buy companies with a combination of debt and equity. "Ticket sizes across the private credit industry are likely to come down depending on the deal. Banks often highlight debt funds' - or direct lenders - higher prices and more stringent documentation requirements as competitive disadvantages to the syndicated loan and junk bond markets. But some see private credit as part of the solution at a time when money is scarce.

☆ Bankers not expecting quick recovery as IPO volumes plunge to lowest level since 2008
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro | Echo Wang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

With questions swirling around monetary policy and the prospect of a looming recession, IPO advisers are not holding their breath on a near-term recovery in the equity capital markets. Global share sales plunged this year as the IPO market froze and hundreds of companies postponed stock market debuts, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and interest rate hikes from central banks weighed on the broader economy. “It’s all about rates - the price of money changed and it has affected everything," said James Palmer, head of EMEA equity capital markets (ECM) at Bank of America. A return by long-only investors to capital markets deals is seen as key for any recovery, after a year in which hedge funds have taken a lead role as buyers of new issuance. "When the stock market is going like this, people typically don't buy new issuance," said Joshua Bonnie, co-head of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett's global capital markets practice.

"The successful completion of the capital increase is a key milestone for the new Credit Suisse," its chief executive Ulrich Koerner said in a statement. Credit Suisse had already raised 1.8 billion francs by placing stock with a group of institutional investors led by Saudi National Bank (1180.SE). The exercise of subscription rights left only 16.4 million shares unsold. These are due to be sold on the market at or above the offer price of 2.52 Swiss francs, Credit Suisse said. Credit Suisse, has been battered by mishaps, including a $5.5 billion loss on U.S. investment firm Archegos.

Credit Suisse has already placed some 1.8 billion francs worth of shares with a group of institutional investors led by Saudi National Bank. "The rights issue is the necessary start to the process, said Jerome Legras of Axiom Alternative Investments. REVAMP AND RECORD LOWSCredit Suisse shares, which have plumbed record lows, were buoyed last week as its leadership sought to reassure markets. After closing above 3 Swiss francs on Monday, they have retreated slightly, finishing Wednesday’s session at 2.851 Swiss francs. Crucially, they have held above the deal subscription price of 2.52 Swiss francs and were at 2.821 Swiss francs, down around 1% in mid-session trade on Thursday.

☆ Analysis: Investors face dilemma as capital increases fill IPO void
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro | Oliver Hirt | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"This is a test as to whether shareholders want to support a company they know well already," he said. In contrast with a drought of initial public offerings (IPO), EMEA companies have raised an overall 33.3 billion euros ($34.99 billion) through capital increases so far this year. Meanwhile, fund managers' cash holdings stand at a near 21-year peak, according to poll data from Bank of America. "However, the market could see more firms turn to shareholders for funding given the rising cost of debt and changing outlook," he added. ($1 = 0.9517 euros)Reporting by Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro and Oliver Hirt; Editing by Bernadette BaumOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Take Five: Ready for that Santa rally?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

1/FRANC DISCUSSIONCredit Suisse executives may need to sit down for an honest chat about whether the bank's latest strategic plan is enough to rally investors. And with the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England meeting in coming weeks, the drama isn't over. For some, the notion of peak rates, peak inflation and China's reopening is reason enough for cheer. After months of pain inflicted by high inflation and aggressive rate increases, perhaps it's time to bring on the Santa rally. That wouldn't necessarily cut short a rally in Aussie dollar, which recently has been driven more by China's re-opening hopes and a retreating greenback than the RBA.

☆ Yahoo to buy minority stake in Taboola in advertising deal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro | David French | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 28 (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc will acquire a nearly 25% stake in advertising tech firm Taboola Inc (TBLA.O) and become its largest shareholder, the companies said in a joint statement on Monday, in a push to deepen advertising on their digital properties. As part of the partnership, Taboola will power native content and advertisements across Yahoo's sites for 30 years, while the U.S. tech company will get one seat on Taboola's board. Taboola's engine pushes links to articles paid by advertisers - known as native advertising - on sites of publishers including CNBC and NBC News. Taboola, whose shares surged 25% in pre-market trade on Monday, expects the deal to boost its revenue, EBITDA and free cash flow. Taboola said it will host a special general meeting on Dec. 30 to seek shareholders' approval.

STOCKHOLM, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Philip Morris International (PMI) (PM.N) said on Monday it now owned a big enough stake in Swedish Match (SWMA.ST) to initiate a compulsory redemption of remaining shares in its Swedish peer and would take it off the stock market. Marlboro maker PMI in May launched a $16 billion takeover bid for the Swedish tobacco and nicotine products company. Buying Swedish Match, with its popular wet snuff "snus" products and tobacco-free nicotine "ZYN" pouches, will aid PMI in its stated ambition to move away from health-harming cigarettes and eventually become a smoke-free company. Swedish Match was not immediately available for comment. ($1 = 10.3774 Swedish crowns)Reporting by Marie Mannes and Anna Ringstrom, editing by Essi Lehto and Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SINGAPORE, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Link Real Estate Investment Trust (0823.HK), Asia's biggest REIT, has emerged as the frontrunner to buy a portfolio of assets from Singapore shopping mall owner NTUC Enterprise Co-operative Ltd, multiple sources told Reuters on Monday. If Link REIT does buy, the assets will be its first in Singapore. Mercatus and Hong Kong-listed Link REIT declined to comment on the matter. Nearly three-quarters of its portfolio value is in Hong Kong. Link REIT has been on the prowl for assets in Singapore and other countries to diversify its portfolio.

☆ French retailer Casino launches stake sale in Brazil's Assai
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro | David French | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS, Nov 28 (Reuters) - French supermarket retailer Casino (CASP.PA) said on Monday it had launched a stake sale in Brazilian cash-and-carry chain Assai (ASAI3.SA) as part of its general debt-cutting plans. Casino said it was selling 140.8 million shares in Assai, representing 10.4% of the company's share capital, and that it could sell a further 3.7% of Assai later. Based on Assai's closing share price of 19.21 Brazilian real ($3.55) on Nov. 25, the sale of 140.8 million shares would be worth 2.7 billion reals ($499 million). Casino said the Assai share sale would take the form of a secondary public offering. ($1 = 5.4098 reais)Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Citi Mexico suitor Mifel enlists Apollo, ADIA to fund bid -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro | David French | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON/NEW YORK, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Mexico's Banca Mifel has lined up investors including Apollo Global Management and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) to fund a bid for Citigroup Inc’s (C.N) Mexican retail bank, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The debt financing could attract more investors to join in Mifel's bid to buy Citibanamex, although there is enough funding already in place to fully support Mifel's proposal, one of the sources said. The competition to buy one of Mexico’s biggest banks has narrowed to two bidders, with smaller rival Mifel, led by Daniel Becker, battling billionaire German Larrea's conglomerate Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB.MX). The two remaining bidders are now conducting further due diligence on the business, also known as Banamex, the sources said. Representatives from Mifel and Grupo Mexico did not immediately respond to emails and phone calls requesting comment.

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