Ash canned: WE Soda cancels IPO but FIG bond renaissance complete

WE Soda, the soda ash producer, pulled this week its much heralded London IPO. It was a blow that the UK’s equity capital market and the European IPO market needed like the proverbial hole in the head. We examine what went wrong but discover that all is not lost, with three other deals in the works.

Meanwhile, the bank bond market has gone from strength to strength since the dark days of Silicon Valley Bank’s and Credit Suisse’s collapse in March. BBVA and Bank of Cyprus placed the cherry firmly on top of the comeback cake this week by pouncing on investors’ hunger for yield to serve up a pair of stellar AT1 deals – the asset class at the centre of Credit Suisse’s controversial rescue.

The situation is more worrying in the US CMBS market where a perfect storm highlights the peril of offices and a section of the securitized products market. Finally, in the sustainability linked loan market issuance is shrinking but as we discover, that might be a good thing.