Loans and High Yield

Sixteen companies, all leading green bond issuers, have formed a Corporate Forum on Sustainable Finance. Electricité de France was the prime mover. Xavier Girre, chief financial officer of EDF, tells GlobalCapital why the group is needed, why he supports a green supporting factor and how EDF’s sustainable finance strategy is developing.

The Channels Island’s International Stock Exchange, now rebranded TISE, gained recognition from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday, easing a potential pain point for issuers listing securities on the venue.

Syndicated lending volumes in the EMEA region are down 75% from last year to record their worst January in five years, and senior loans bankers say the rest of the year is unlikely to get much better.

Getty Images launched a refinancing of its capital structure on Thursday, the company’s first capital markets outing since the Getty family regained control of it last September. An investment vehicle controlled by conservative activists the Koch brothers was willing to commit $500m of preferred PIK equity last year, but the refi of the debt stack had to wait for market conditions to improve.

Abundant supply, a diverse crop of issuers and some rare long-tenor deals characterised Asia’s bond market ahead of the week-long Chinese New Year holiday, setting the stage for a positive February. Addison Gong reports.

Macau casino operator Studio City Finance has priced a $600m deal to fund a tender offer, winning plaudits for its precise pricing. But while the company could return to the bond market again this year, overall supply from the sector is expected to be subdued.

Most bond investors are making minimal effort to lobby companies to improve their performance on climate change, a new report has found. Some feel they haven’t the right to make demands; some leave it to equity colleagues; some do not see it as relevant.

S&P expects speculative grade default rates to rise to 2.6% in 2019, from 1.9% at the end of last year, thanks to tightening credit conditions, and slowing economic growth. But new accounting standards could also worsen the credit cycle.

Investors have come out in huge numbers to buy the three corporate hybrid deals that have been sold so far in 2019. However, the excess demand is unlikely to be sated as the year unfolds.

Suning Appliance Group has added $235m to its coffers with a bond tap, capturing one of the last windows for issuance ahead of the shut-down of Asia’s bond markets for the Chinese New Year holiday.

Macau casino operator Studio City Finance raised $600m from a deal that was priced right around fair value, funding a tender offer. There could be more bonds from the company in 2019.

Comexposium, the French exhibitions group, has raised new debt to finance Crédit Agricole Assurances’ purchase of a majority stake from Charterhouse Capital Partners.