Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)

A giddiness is entering the Russian loan market over the speed at which deals are lining up, with bankers looking for a bold reopening even as the country’s political relations with the US come under the growing glare of public scrutiny. Dan Alderson reports.

Holding Slovenske Elektrarne (HSE), the Slovenian state-owned power generation company, has agreed a €220m loan to refinance debt and extend its maturity profile.

Loan bankers’ enthusiasm to undertake more Russian business this year looks set to translate into deals soon, with Russian Railways in talks about a new money club loan.

After spending 2016 away from the high yield market, UK premium car maker Jaguar Land Rover returned on Tuesday to add euros to its all sterling and dollar debt.

Reducing Hungary’s FX liabilities continues to be one of its debt management office’s (AKK) driving factors, but CEO György Barcza also remains committed to diversifying the country’s funding sources. With a Japanese yen bond maturing, and a €1bn bond planned, 2017 looks set to offer investors some rare opportunities to buy into Hungary’s improving debt story.

Increasing interest among banks in lending to Russian companies has got a boost at the start of year, with senior officials expressing surprise and admiration at Intesa Sanpaolo’s decision to fully underwrite a loan supporting Glencore and the Qatar Investment Authority’s buyout of a stake in Russian oil company Rosneft. Dan Alderson reports.

A strong start to the year for leveraged buyout deals has helped stoke banker confidence that 2017 could be another solid year for event-driven loans following healthy activity in 2016, even as refinancing business bottomed out.

Turkish borrowers face a tough year as security concerns about the country threaten access to a funding market that is already expected to suffer volatility. But bankers say it is business as usual in Turkey, and investors agree that Turkish spreads are still an attractive prospect.

Intesa Sanpaolo is seeking other banks to join the €5.2bn loan it has fully underwritten to support Glencore and the Qatar Investment Authority in their acquisition of a stake in Rosneft, the Russian oil company.

Likely faced with an assault course of volatility inducing events this year, emerging market issuers will be keen to raise cash early before Brexit/Trump/rate rises/European elections (delete as appropriate) come to blight the market.

The next chapter of the renminbi internationalisation process could soon be taking place in the commodities market with Amundi Asset Management predicting the rise of petro-renminbi in 2017.

Loan facilities backing Mid Europa Partners’ acquisition of Romanian retail chain Profi Rom Food will go into general syndication this month, with a fifth bank joining the bookrunners and tranche prices having been indicated to ‘early bird’ lenders.