Loans and High Yield

Virgin Media, the UK cable company, has announced a new sterling issue from its vendor finance high yield bond programme, following a dollar deal on Monday, as it terms out funding and prepares for its merger with UK mobile company O2.

Renault, the French car company, has arranged an up to €5bn short-term credit facility backed by its government, as fierce complaints have followed similar guarantees in other industries.

Indonesian telecommunications company Tiphone Mobile is restructuring its debt after failing to make payments on an offshore borrowing in March.

Investcorp said on Tuesday it had raised a new €318m loan fund to acquire "high performing loans at discounted levels" from large cap issuers in the European market. The fund will be leveraged and aim for returns in the mid teens.

UniCredit has appointed a new head of non-investment grade syndicate, after Carlo Fontana was promoted to global head of syndicate in March.

For a failing business, the coronavirus pandemic has offered the perfect excuse. With so many well-managed companies forced to close their doors during lockdowns, record unemployment across several countries and a severe global recession on the cards, who can blame a management team or its backers when a corporate is on the edge of collapse?

Telepizza bonds sold off by around 30 points on Monday on news that the company had appointed restructuring advisers, available liquidity was sharply lower than the market had expected, and the company needed around €100m of new money to stay in business — slightly less than the €130m dividend it paid last year after KKR took the Spanish pizza chain private.

China’s Zhongyu Gas Holdings has launched a $300m refinancing loan into general syndication.

The Ministry of Finance of the Lao PDR has returned to the loan market for a new financing of $50m.

KKR, Cinven and Providence Private Equity have launched the first post-Covid take-private LBO attempt, targeting Spanish telecommunications company MasMovil with a €3bn takeover offer at €22.50 a share, giving the company an enterprise value of around €5bn. Barclays, BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley have underwritten the financing for the buyout.

Chinese real estate developer Sichuan Languang Development Co rushed into the market last Friday with a dollar deal, to avoid any market fallout over the weekend from rising tensions between the US and the Mainland.

Asia’s loan market is slowly recovering from a near-shutdown due to Covid-19, with bankers predicting a busy couple of months ahead. But syndication will still be a challenge as lenders continue to remain risk-averse and selective on deals.