Loans and High Yield

Crédit Agricole’s corporate and investment bank (CA–CIB) aims to be realistic in how offers value to clients and its parent company. It’s looking to achieve growth without overreaching in unprofitable or less strategic areas, writes David Rothnie.

Loxam, the French supplier of industrial rental equipment, printed €1.15bn senior secured notes and €250m of subordinated notes this week, risking a future rating downgrade as it loads up more debt to finance its biggest ever acquisition.

The biggest pot of money most people will ever have is their pension, so it’s vital that this cash is worked as hard as it can be.

A subsidiary of Indonesian textile company Duniatex missed an interest payment on a $260m syndicated loan last week, causing the bond price of its sister company to collapse and bankers to wonder about the wider health of the sector. Pan Yue reports.

While the latest move from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), restricting the use of the proceeds in offshore bonds by Chinese real estate companies failed to startle Asia’s bond market, a heavy supply of aggressively-priced deals is weighing on sentiment, writes Addison Gong.

Dubai-headquartered international education provider GEMS Education is seeking a $1.85bn debt package to support CVC Capital Partners taking a minority stake in the company.

Ilfryn Carstairs, global chief investment officer at alternative investor Värde Partners, will become co-CEO from next year, while keeping his co-CIO title.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has tightened regulations on property companies selling bonds in the overseas market. Those with free market instincts ─ including this paper ─ would typically balk at such heavy-handedness. But a tough stance is exactly what the market needs to become sustainable in the long-run.

Ithaca Energy, a UK-based oil and gas operator, revised its bond terms to placate investors this week — marking a rare victory for the buy-side in a market that has offered ever weaker protection. Buyers for the bonds had been prepared to swallow Ithaca's original proposals, but demanded a double digit yield to do so, forcing the borrower to back down to hit its target price. Karoliina Liimatainen reports.

Left lead Barclays dropped the floating rate sterling tranche from the high yield bonds for Domestic & General’s fundraising to refinance old debt and pay a dividend to its old owners, replacing it with a smaller euro floater and a large fixed-rate issue.

Italy’s Salini Impregilo is pushing ahead with plans to buy compatriot troubled construction rival Astaldi after getting the preliminary nod from financiers, with the acquiring company set to raise €600m among a raft of funding agreements.

Europe's corporate bond market is sauntering towards the holidays at a gentle pace, with spreads slightly wider and no one in a hurry. But deals are still available for issuers that want them.