Loans and High Yield

LeasePlan refinanced the high yield bonds at its holding company this week, printing one of the largest holdco FRNs in the market — and confirming the sponsors’ shift in strategy since the firm’s abortive IPO attempt last October.

Investment grade loans bankers are pinning more hope on the coming quarter after the slowest start to a year in the past five years.

Südzucker, the German sugar company that was one of the first ever issuers of corporate hybrid capital with a €700m perpetual issue in 2005, has been forced to suspend coupon payments on the bond, when poor results it released on Wednesday hit cashflow triggers in the documentation.

The European leveraged finance market is heating up, as long-awaited deals for the buyouts of UK plastics company RPC and German online listings firm Scout24 break cover. The two chunky deals will deliver much needed new money supply after a sluggish start to the year.

De Nederlandsche Bank has become the first central bank to sign the Principles for Responsible Investment, as the next stage in its development of a fuller approach to sustainability, including in its investments.

Chinese online travel agent Ctrip.com International has launched its first offshore deal, for €600m, two years after raising a larger onshore facility.

Hong Kong’s Konew International Group has debuted in the offshore loans market, raising $150m.

Four Chinese sub-investment grade yield issuers, mostly property developers, stormed the offshore bond market on Wednesday, allowing yield-starved investors to pile in with orders.

Telecoms company Cable & Wireless, which operates mostly in the Caribbean, added $300m to its longest dated bond on Wednesday in a deal that received strong backing from US high yield buyers.

Almost everyone in the European corporate bond market admits they were wrongfooted by the storm of demand that has overwhelmed issuers this year. But the weather has changed again, as unexpectedly. From last week to this, the temperature is cooler and new issue premiums are, in most cases, back.

Retailer Sports Direct has offered to buy Debenhams for around £61.4m in cash, though the companies disagree on whether Mike Ashley’s firm will be able to deal with the department store’s immediate debt servicing requirements.

Chinese pharmaceuticals company WuXi Biologics has launched a debut offshore loan of $200m through sole lead Standard Chartered.