Loans and High Yield

After a furious start to the year, leveraged finance bankers are now worrying about what’s next for new money leveraged buyouts, with few corporate carve-outs on the horizon and a plethora of political pain points to keep sponsors on the sidelines. Owen Sanderson reports.

International bond volumes from India so far this year have almost doubled from the same period in 2019, showing the strength of the country’s issuers as they continue to emerge from a turbulent period. Debt bankers are optimistic that India is set for a strong 2020, writes Morgan Davis.

Chinese corporations bombarded investors with new bond options on Wednesday, allowing three issuers to raise $625m between then. Hong Kong-based asset manager ESR Cayman joined the fray in Singapore, grabbing S$225m ($161.55m).

The poll to determine GlobalCapital's Bond Awards 2020 is open. Until June 30, market participants are invited to choose the firms and individuals who have performed most impressively in the past year.

London-listed tech firm Micro Focus is refinancing and extending its term loan 'B' and revolver, with a $1.435bn-equivalent deal across dollars and euros. The company has had a grim year — reflected in the targeted loan margins — with a series of revenue warnings, a sliding share price and subsequent exit from the FTSE100, a failed sale of part of the business, and the departure of its long-serving executive chairman.

After a pause last week, the primary high yield bond market in euros has bounced back with two new mandates on Wednesday, unsecured deals for US firms Catalent and Silgan. Both deals are in popular industries and refinance existing debt, with leveraged finance bankers telling clients there’s no time to print like the present.

One of Peking University Founder Group Co’s creditors has applied to a Chinese court for a restructuring of the company, which defaulted on a Rmb2bn ($285m) domestic bond at the end of last year.

China’s Powerlong Real Estate Holdings is returning to the international loan market to refinance some of its debt, mandating one bank to lead the deal.

Citic, Yango Group Co and Kunming Industrial Development and Investment Co were the three Chinese issuers that tapped bond investors for new dollar deals on Tuesday.

Delhi International Airport (Dial) returned to the bond market with a tap of its 2029 notes on Tuesday, taking $150m from investors.

Vietnam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Techcombank) has launched a $300m deal into general syndication, marking its second attempt at tapping the loan market.

JP Morgan has promoted a whole new layer of leadership in its investment bank, reaching down to debt capital markets, equity capital markets and M&A. At the top of the tree, Carlos Hernandez has moved from being head of global investment banking to executive chair and has appointed new co-heads of global investment banking.