Loans and High Yield

On Friday, AkzoNobel and Suse announced new deals in the already bustling European markets for high yield bonds and leveraged loans, bolstering expectations of record volume for September.

India’s JSW Steel has launched a $140m dual-tranche loan into general syndication, with the funds to go towards its acquisition of US-based steel plant Acero Junction Holdings.

The Nordic high yield market has started to price several top rated euro deals that were initially planned to roadshow before the summer break. This time, demand and coupons suggest this could be a better window for the issuers.

Chinese technology giant Xiaomi Corp, which recently floated in a landmark IPO in Hong Kong, is seeking lenders’ approval to slash the price on a $1bn loan closed last year.

A number of bond issuers ventured out to the debt market on Wednesday, braving a weak market backdrop to pull off deals not just in US dollars, but also in Singapore dollars and offshore renminbi.

The buyers of Thomson Reuters’ Financial & Risk business on Wednesday launched roadshows for $5.5bn equivalent of high yield bonds across two tenors and in dollars and euros, following the launch of $8bn of loans for the buyout on Tuesday.

Japanese investment bank Nomura is increasing its involvement in European real estate — including the UK market, where the exit from the European Union could spark new business.

European corporate bond investors have enjoyed the extra yield a bunch of new 12 year bonds have offered in the last two weeks, but are warning that issuers may need to find a new trick soon.

Bankers working on the European deal pipelines for high yield bonds and leveraged loans promise a blazing September, but the talk among investors and their advisers is sober. Some fund managers believe the second half of the year might turn out to be reckoning time from what they described as “excesses” of the past.

The US high yield bond market’s vulnerability to the price of oil is a perfect example of how heavy dependence on a single industry can hit a whole market. Now, the sterling bond market faces a similar test from the retail sector.

Telecom infrastructure firm Circet Odyssee has joined the early September pipeline of deals in the euro leveraged loans market with a small tap. It will fund the buyout of Irish peer KN Group, with parent company Advent planning to merge the companies.

South African precious metals mining company Sibanye Stillwater has launched a tender process to repurchase some of its high yield and convertible bonds.