ING

The European leveraged finance market is set to contend with loan deals approaching €4bn for the start of September. Over half of that is for the German pharmaceutical firm Stada — a deal that could help make funding more expensive for everyone else, writes Victor Jimenez.

FMO, the Netherlands development agency, this week became one of the only borrowers to issue synthetic bonds referencing the Myanmar kyat.

Banks are making efforts to boost their sponsor coverage in Asia, responding to the growing prominence of private equity funds in the region and a shift in business ownership to a younger generation that is more open to selling stakes. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

ING has reshuffled its line-up of syndicated finance bankers, creating a new European regional head role while relocating its global head from London.

Indian company Srei Equipment Finance is seeking an up to $150m five year loan from the offshore market.

Korea’s Kookmin Bank is eyeing a return to the dollar bond market, meeting with investors this week to gauge interest in a senior deal.

German medical care company Fresenius attracted 45 banks into a €3.8bn refinancing, closing the transaction on Tuesday.

AR Packaging, the Swedish maker of packaging for food, increased its LBO loans with a dividend recapitalisation deal on Tuesday. The move follows a trend of loan borrowers taking on more leverage ahead of new European Central Bank guidance on leverage limits.

Medco Energi Internasional, which issued a dollar bond last week, has returned to the debt market for a reserve based lending (RBL) facility for subsidiary Medco E&P Malaka.

British American Tobacco set fire to any notion that markets close in August this week with a $20.8bn bond bonanza. It brought a $17.25bn eight tranche deal on Tuesday — the second largest bond transaction of the year in the US — and followed that with a €3.6bn-equivalent four tranche dual currency deal in Europe on Wednesday. Nigel Owen reports.

Two further Schuldschein deals at least doubled in size this week after Lonza's bumper earlier deal, as the market eclipsed its issuance level for the whole of 2016.

After bringing the second largest bond transaction of the year in the US on Tuesday, British American Tobacco topped up its borrowing with a €3.6bn-equivalent four tranche dual currency deal on Wednesday.