The European junk bond market spluttered back to life yesterday as UK plastics manufacturer Polypipe raised debt to refinance its leveraged buy-out and ISS Global, the Danish cleaning services group, resolved a six-month dispute with bondholders.

Polypipe, which was acquired by US private equity firm Castle Harlan for £293m (€433m) in September, raised £188m of high-yield debt yesterday through Deutsche Bank. The UK company raised slightly more than expected, but was forced to increase the yield on the bonds to ensure demand.