Loans and High Yield

French car parts maker Faurecia has gone against the headwinds buffeting the industry, cutting financing costs with its latest refinancing round. A number of other well known high yield borrowers are also rushing into the market before Christmas to switch their higher coupon paper into cheaper alternatives.

Crédit Agricole has chosen a new global head of debt capital markets.

High grade corporate bond investors are feeling enlivened after the European Central Bank announced bumper figures for its Corporate Sector Purchase Programme for the start of November. That bucks the trend some syndicate desks had detected, of demand starting to wane, coming out of earnings season.

Credit Suisse has chosen a banker from Deutsche Bank to co-lead its healthcare team in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

India’s Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) and French oil and gas company Total are jointly raising a $600m loan for a gas project in the south Asian country. Eight banks have already formed the senior lending group, with the leads now seeking commitments in general.

Czech gaming company Sazka, with lottery operations around Europe, debuted in the euro market on Tuesday with €300m of senior unsecured notes, priced at 4.125%.

Antonio Brina is joining JP Morgan from Bank of America Merrill Lynch to lead basic materials investment banking for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Road King Infrastructure returned to the dollar market for the fourth time this year on Monday. The borrower, which has favoured fixed-for-life perpetual bonds before, offered investors a slightly different perpetual deal this time that would see its coupon be reset but has no additional step-up.

Ball Corporation, a US metal packaging and aerospace technology company, is looking to cut its financing costs with a €900m issue of senior unsecured notes. Crown, its closest peer in metal packaging, set a new floor — just 0.75% — for high yield coupons in Europe in October.

UK mining company Sirius Minerals kept the dream alive with a market update on Monday, unveiling discussions with potential investors over a $600m financing package. Sirius’s shares saw a meteoric rise of up to 28% on Monday morning but the initial excitement fizzled out quickly.

David Miller has become the new chief executive of Credit Suisse’s investment banking and capital markets (IBCM) unit, replacing James Amine.

State-owned Chinese bond issuer Tewoo Group Co has picked firms to manage $1.25bn of its offshore debt as maturities loom, and is eyeing a potential exchange offer.