Loans and High Yield

Investors appeared happy to tolerate soaring leverage in favoured sectors, such as tech or pharma, on Thursday, while Covid-19 recovery candidates are beginning to look expensive, as much of the rally that began in November has played out.

Commodity trader Trafigura has sold US private placements, according to market sources, in its sixth issuance in the market.

US security firm Allied Universal has launched term loan Bs in euros and dollars, the first leg of the financing for its acquisition of UK rival G4S.

The detailed rules for the EU Taxonomy of Sustainable Economic Activities look set to come into force, as the European Commission published them on Wednesday, after weeks of intense lobbying and negotiation that had raised the prospect of them being delayed again. Gas will not enter the Taxonomy for now and will be dealt with in separate legislation, but nuclear power could enter the Taxonomy later this year, alarming greens.

Kaisa Group Holdings paid a new issue concession of about 10bp for a $200m tap of one of its existing deals, appealing to investors amid recent pressure on Chinese bonds in the secondary market.

Grünenthal, the German pharmaceutical firm which specialises in painkillers, is looking to refinance its debt with an inaugural high yield bond, just two months after buyers reportedly shunned the company over ESG concerns around opioid manufacturing.

UK gym chain Virgin Active’s restructuring could set a precedent for restructurings of UK retailers. Dozens of retailers have used ‘CVA’ processes to cut their debt burdens, which typically hits their landlords hard but leaves other creditors unscathed. Virgin Active is instead using the new UK ‘super scheme’ restructuring law introduced last year to try to bind landlords and other creditors alike into accepting writedowns.

German TV shopping network HSE is preparing a new high yield bond to refinance its existing unitranche debt and pay owner Providence Private Equity a dividend.

European loan bankers were wildly optimistic for their hopes for deal flow in the first quarter, after a new survey from the European Central Bank shows that loan demand was 40% less than expected.

Hong Kong-listed ESR Cayman, a logistics real estate company, has raised a $400m dual-tranche borrowing.

Putian State-Owned Assets Investment Co (PTSI) sold its first dollar bond this week, raising $180m.

Ping An International Financial Leasing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China’s Ping An Group, is casting a wide net for its $500m loan comeback, in a bid to diversify its financing sources — and its banking relationships.