When the BBC – the UK's state television and radio broadcaster – sought funding for its commercial arm earlier this year, it turned to an unusual place to get it. Rather than calling on its existing banks, the BBC chose to issue a bond for the first time. But it did not sell a public deal. Instead, it tapped the private placement (PP) market.
The BBC, in a deal led by Barclays and Lloyds Bank, managed to raise $259m – or £170m – of seven-year debt from eight investors, most of them large US insurance firms.
