JP Morgan

Catalent Pharma and Thomas Cook — a reverse Yankee issuer and a UK holidays operator — on Thursday released guidance for high yield deals amounting some €900m in a market that has been mute since November 15.

Low-cost airline VietJet Aviation has kicked off the roadshow for its IPO, in search of demand for a deal that could raise up to D4.4tr ($194.0m).

A trio of Wall Street heavy-hitters plundered the dollar market as December got off to a flyer in the countdown to year end and a probable rate rise.

Issuance in the European leveraged finance market has been one-sided since the shock result of the US election last month. A notable bond-to-loan trend has prevailed, with sponsor-driven single-B issuance making the loan market increasingly hot, while leaving the high yield market out in the cold. Max Bower reports.

DNA, one of Finland’s largest telecommunications companies, closed at €10.10 on its stock exchange debut on Thursday, after pricing its €413m IPO in the lower middle of its range.

Chinese companies have aggressively expanded into Europe this year, snapping up businesses and expanding their footprint. While loans are still the go-to funding tool and often get the bulk of the refinancing, as this week’s China National Chemical Corp transaction shows, the bridge-to bond route is becoming more popular. Morgan Davis and Addison Gong report.

French media technology firm Technicolor increased its euro term loan offering by €200m to €450m on Wednesday, as Verisure tightened and accelerated the pricing and commitments on its own deal.

State Power Investment Corp (SPIC) fired the starting pistol in Asia’s dollar bond market this week, selling a $1.2bn dual tranche offering on Tuesday. The state-owned enterprise played off its strong name and high rating, and ended up paying little by way of new issue premium, even though the market was volatile.

Asia’s debt capital markets opened with a bang on Wednesday with five issuers fighting for attention. Investors have plenty of choice including a euro deal and a trio of dollar offerings from Chinese FIG and corporate names.

US drugs specialist Catalent Pharma on Tuesday began offering its debut euro bond to investors as it sought funding for its acquisition of peers Pharmatek and Accucaps.

Lanxess, the German chemicals company, issued a €500m hybrid capital bond on Tuesday as it sought financing for its acquisition of Chemtura.

Brazilian steel company Usiminas, which restructured its bank loans and domestic debt in September, has said it will attempt an exchange of its dollar 2018 bonds, which were not part of the restructuring.