Loans and High Yield

Guangzhou R&F Properties Co raised $200m from a tap of its existing bonds on Tuesday, opting to reopen an old deal amid a challenging market environment.

DS Smith, the UK packaging company, has offered to buy Spanish rival Europac, with £1.65bn of financing underwritten by US banks already prepared for the transaction.

Swiss telecommunications group Salt Mobile was this week looking to replace most of its debt capital structure with Sfr2.085bn-equivalent (€1.8bn) of new bonds that have weaker covenants, as the high yield market overcomes a recent bout of eurozone volatility.

A joint notice by three Chinese government regulatory bodies limiting new capacity in solar power generation has caused several offshore renewable energy bonds to tank in the secondary market.

The political upheaval in Italy is already making US investors go cold on European risk, which could magnify the market disruption Europe is likely to face in the coming months. The effects are even changing expectations on US monetary policy.

Telecoms firm Lebara this week pushed back a deadline to avoid breaching reporting covenants of its only bond, a high yield note under Norwegian law, leaving some market participants worried about contagion.

China Development Bank has dashed the hopes of bidders for a $1bn loan to the Sri Lankan sovereign, clinching the mandate on a sole basis by offering an eight year facility, writes Pan Yue.

A topsy-turvy market backdrop is pushing a slew of Chinese borrowers, mainly property companies, to raise funds by tapping their existing dollar bonds. Buy side interest remains, but only for the right names, writes Addison Gong.

Jitters over Italy’s political turmoil receded slightly on Thursday, giving Asia’s stock and bond markets a bit of respite, even as talk of a trade war between China and the US reappeared.

Ping An Real Estate Co closed a $250m short-dated bond on Wednesday amid continued market volatility.

Chinese alternative investment firm Citic Capital Holdings has approached the loan market for a new HK$2.5bn ($318m) borrowing.

Investment house Hermes launched a new liquid credit fund this week, catering to clients seeking shelter from market volatility while foraging among new markets about which they know less.