Loans and High Yield

Here Technologies, the Dutch provider of mapping and location services, has signed a €500m credit facility. Some European loans bankers insist they are swamped with deals, even though they have just finished the quietest January for years.

First Derivatives, a UK technology company, has signed £130m of bank facilities, earmarking some of the funds to refinance an acquisition agreed last summer.

Capital market sentiment in the UK has weakened as the country awaits the detail of its scheduled departure from the EU, if a couple of indicators published this week are anything to go by. However, even a bad Brexit could be welcomed by corporate financiers.

Green bond issuance has been in hot demand so far this year with investors allocating ever greater sums to sustainable and ethical mandates. However, it is not just the green labels on deals that are affecting their decisions.

Concerns about a rapid debt-fuelled acquisition spree by UK and European veterinary group IVC left some investors reluctant to subscribe for its loans, particularly after a profit warning from another group in the sector. But fears proved unfounded as the deal was allocated at the tight end of guidance by Thursday.

Tip Trailer, the Dutch trailer services company, has refinanced its revolving credit facility, ramping the size up to €967m as it gathers funding for a range of growth plans.

Goldman Sachs has launched syndication of the acquisition financing supporting TPG and Beaver-Visitec International’s purchase of PhysIOL Group, with a €450m seven year senior secured first lien on offer.

ICG said on Friday that it had hired Blackstone’s Vijay Bharadia as chief financial and operating officer and as a director, subject to regulatory approval.

High yield bonds issued by French pipeline tubing firm Vallourec slid last Friday on concerns that it would struggle to access competitive refinancing terms this year. The company’s shares were down 5.41%, with its bonds down between 1.6 and 3.7 points, according to MarketAxess data.

Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone State-Owned Assets Investment, a Chinese local government financing vehicle (LGFV), raised a larger-than-expected $250m from its inaugural appearance in the offshore market that was over two months in the making.

Green bond watchers are putting out their forecasts for issuance this year, hoping for a return to growth after a disappointing 2018. The year has started decently, with at least $6bn issued so far, including this week’s debut issue from Telefónica, hailed as the first from the telecoms sector.

Pacific Gas & Electric has gone bankrupt with $52bn of debt, blaming forest fires that seared California during 2018. Vale, with $11bn, has been downgraded to the bottom edge of investment grade after its horrific dam burst last Friday.