Loans and High Yield

India’s Tata Steel and Birla Carbon have decided not to syndicate their chunky loans, amid reluctance from the bookrunners to sell down their positions in a slowing market for deals.

The European Union’s Taxonomy of Sustainable Economic Activities, the latest draft of which was released on Monday, has been hailed by promoters as the opening of a new chapter in responsible investing. But the document is complex and much will depend on how market participants use it.

Alcentra has provided $530m of senior debt to fund the acquisition of medical device maker Lumenis by Baring Private Equity Asia, in the largest direct lending deal the European private debt specialist has done in its history.

Lead managers added 1% Libor floors to recent dollar loans from Polynt-Reichold and Genesis Care, part of a package of measures to push them over the line as market conditions deteriorated in the last two weeks. But rates have plunged so quickly that these floors are already in the money.

Some leveraged issuers could avoid covenant breaches thanks to the coronavirus outbreak, according to researchers, by using the "extraordinary, unusual or non-recurring" carve-outs to add back some costs to Ebitda figures.

TVS Supply Chain Solutions, a subsidiary of Indian industrial conglomerate TVS Group, has mandated three banks for a $185m loan that will be syndicated to a small set of banks.

Investors already reeling from the growing impact of Covid-19 on markets had another thing to contend with on Monday — a collapse in the price of crude oil. Asian bonds and stock markets tanked in the aftermath, with debt bankers saying there was no reprieve in sight.

Sustainable finance specialists are waiting eagerly to see the precise details of the European Union's Taxonomy of Sustainable Economic Activities, the next draft of which will be revealed on Monday.

Indian real estate developer Lodha Developers International offered investors a 14% yield to secure demand for its $200m bond, after being forced to widen pricing from initial guidance.

The Bank of England may soon tweak its macroprudential policies and introduce a new funding scheme for banks to mitigate the economic impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus epidemic on companies. The measures would help lenders at a time when they could face pressure from lower rates and rising impairments.

Shares in guarantor loans company Amigo Holdings plunged more than 25% at the open on Thursday while its high yield bond, a 7.625% 2024, was marked down more than 30 points, as founder James Benamor quit the board, then published a lengthy blog post describing the company as "committing slow motion suicide". Amigo hit back quickly with a statement rejecting many of Benamor’s comments but prices failed to bounce back.

Chinese property developer Jingrui Holdings made its first dollar outing of 2020 on Wednesday, raising $180m from the bond.