JCRA and Peel Hunt agree debt capital markets tie-up

JC Rathbone Associates (JCRA), the debt advisory and hedging specialist, has agreed a new debt capital markets (DCM) collaboration with independent corporate broking house Peel Hunt.

As part of the new agreement, a team of DCM specialists from JCRA will form a new Peel Hunt-branded unit, adding DCM capabilities to Peel Hunt’s business lines.

The team comprises Adrian Bell, Henrietta Podd (pictured) and Mark Glowrey, who were all previously senior members of investment bank Canaccord Genuity’s DCM practice, which JCRA acquired in April 2016.

Bell, Podd and Glowrey will share their time between Peel Hunt and JCRA; Bell and Podd will report to Andrew Chapman, Peel Hunt’s head of corporate, while Glowrey will report to Iain Morgan, Peel Hunt’s head of execution and trading.  The three will continue to have reporting lines to Jackie Bowie, JCRA’s CEO.

The team has a track record in DCM origination, advisory, execution, distribution and trading. In the retail bond space, they led more than 75 percent of the issuance on the London Stock Exchange’s Order Book for Retail Bonds (ORB) over the last three years.

Activities will include DCM financings for real estate clients, alongside other industries. The team members have experience of raising capital for sectors including specialist financials, housing associations, utilities, banks, oil companies, educational institutions and charities.

JCRA’s CEO, Jackie Bowie, told Real Estate Capital that the arrangement is a “collaborative venture” between the two firms, which will extend the products and services each can offer clients. “Each firm will bring different skills and capabilities to the table,” she said. “The ability to execute in the public fixed-income markets, including retail bonds, will add another potential source of funding to JCRA’s client offering.”

Peel Hunt is targeting DCM as a growth area, having advised on debt-related corporate deals in recent years. The firm was co-lead on convertible bond issues for property firm Hansteen in 2013 and Primary Health Properties (PHP) in 2014.

In March 2016, Peel Hunt was joint lead manager with Canaccord Genuity on the Alpha Schools retail bond on behalf of Delancey’s Alpha Plus Group. In April 2016, the two firms were also joint managers on a retail bond for Burford Capital.

“In today’s low interest rate environment, debt capital, whether new, refinanced or restructured, is increasingly seen by companies as an attractive and affordable alternative to equity finance,” said Steven Fine, CEO of Peel Hunt. “We have seen growing calls from corporate clients for debt capital markets advice, as demonstrated by our active involvement in many debt-related corporate deals.”

“Providing full access to Peel Hunt’s well established execution, distribution, underwriting and trading capability will enable JCRA’s clients to access the bond markets, including the London Stock Exchange’s ORB,” added Bowie.

In April, following JCRA’s acquisition of the social housing and bond advisory business of Canaccord Genuity, JCRA managing director John Edwards told Real Estate Capital: “They are big on raising and listing bonds – they know the full process of listing on various stock exchanges and we haven’t done that. They have also had a lot of interaction with the credit agencies and we also like the fact they have been innovative.”