Loans and High Yield

Low & Bonar has asked its lenders to waive covenant testing on its credit facility, as the UK polymers company battles through a tough trading period and tries to ensure its acquisition by a German rival goes ahead.

Sri Rejeki Isman (Sritex) sold an opportunistic $225m bond on Wednesday, becoming the first high yield Indonesian issuer in five months. The company offered investors a juicy premium, which was necessary to appease buyers burnt by turmoil around fellow textile company Duniatex.

Health and Happiness International Holdings and Shui On Land have both made swift returns to the loan market for tightly priced deals.

Chinese property company Ronshine China Holdings brought its 2022 notes to the market again on Wednesday, tapping the 8.75% bonds for a second time and adding $265m to its coffers.

India's Tata Capital Financial Services has made a quick loan comeback, seeking a $135m-equivalent dual-currency deal.

Triton Partners and secured bondholders enforced a share pledge over German heat exchanger company Galapagos, selling the company itself back to Triton, and leaving unsecured bondholders facing an empty shell. But the unsecured bondholders won’t go down without a fight, with Signal Capital Partners filing a lawsuit in New York seeking to tear up the sale.

A recent innovation in the green bond market — the transition bond — could help expand the issuer base, according to Credit Suisse’s head of environmental, social and governance strategy. But an investor said the standard of green bonds needed to be maintained.

Nexi, the Italian payments company, is marketing a dual-tranche refinancing bond, its first issue since it floated on the Milan Stock Exchange in April. With Advent, Bain Capital and Clessidra now mid-way through realising their investments, the company is changing its approach to the debt markets, switching to unsecured bonds and giving up callability.

The search for yield is shovelling more fuel on to the fire of an already blazing corporate bond market. Investors are keeping a close watch on Enel’s euro sustainability-linked bond issue, which is being marketed via investor calls on Wednesday, as a gauge of the market's health.

Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel’s efforts this year to deleverage were capped with the issuance of a subordinated perpetual $750m bond on Tuesday. The deal, alongside further stake sales planned for the rest of 2019, puts the company on track for a more stable debt profile. Morgan Davis reports.

Investors have mixed feelings about bonds from Chinese property companies, but a likely supply-demand rebalance could signal yet another honeymoon period for the sector.

Philippine conglomerate San Miguel Corp is inviting banks to join a $1.75bn term loan that will be used to take out a bridge facility that supported its acquisition of Holcim Philippines.