Jefferies LLC

Shares in RPC Group, the UK plastic packaging maker, closed 5.8% lower on Thursday after it announced a fully underwritten £552m rights issue to finance its takeover of Letica, a US rival.

Most of Asia's equity capital markets were still waking up from the post-holiday slumber this week but bankers in India were on their toes, with IPO activity in the country continuing apace.

Jefferies has appointed a new head of EU emerging markets sales having strengthened its EM credit team with four other recent hires.

Shares of India’s second largest stock exchange BSE traded up 49% on their debut on Friday, following the hugely successful Rp12.4bn ($184.1m) IPO in January.

The European IPO market is getting busier, with several deals launched this week, and another close to being priced.

Tuesday night brought fireworks in the blocks market, with a wave of primary and secondary offerings, including a Sfr865m acquisition financing by a Swiss pharmaceutical.

Zoopla Property Group, the UK owner of property search websites, completed an accelerated bookbuild on Tuesday night to raise £76.5m of new capital, to buy Hometrack.co.uk, a property information service.

Few Indian IPOs can boast of having $6.4bn in excess demand, but BSE is one of them. The Bombay stock exchange operator completed bookbuilding for its Rp12.4bn ($182m) float this week, an extraordinary end to a sale first mooted over a decade ago. The pressure is now on its larger rival to do just as well, writes John Loh.

India’s BSE could not have wished for a sweeter end to its Rp12.4bn ($182m) IPO, which on Wednesday closed hugely oversubscribed.

BSE, the owner of the Bombay Stock Exchange, is off to a cork-popping start to its Rp12.4bn ($182m) IPO, having snagged both marquee anchor investors and strong early orders.

The Bombay Stock Exchange has announced a marketing range for its long-awaited IPO in India, leaving no doubt that the Rp12.4bn ($182m) deal will price at the top of expectations.

The sterling high yield bond market on Friday priced its first single-B rated issue of the year, a £275m note from Amigo Loans, a UK consumer lender, with the third highest coupon in the past 12 months for a single-B sterling issue.