Loans and High Yield

A new grouping is set to join the legion of initiatives promoting a more sustainable financial system: the Principles for Responsible Banking.

Law firm Ropes & Gray has hired former Goldman Sachs managing director Carol Van der Vorst as a partner in its leveraged finance team in Europe.

The European leveraged finance primary market has been idling this week, with less than €1bn of paper on offer. Backstage, however, things have been buzzing.

The volatility and widening of corporate bond spreads in Europe since February has led many bankers to comment that the balance of power has shifted from issuers to investors. Investors, however, suggest otherwise.

House of Fraser, the department store chain, has joined the trail of UK high yield retailers that have turned to company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) to deal with financial difficulties. But this time, the borrower has also found a new owner, a development its 11% shareholder Sports Direct is threatening to block in court.

After four years away from the high yield market, UK North Sea operator Ithaca Energy was back with a bond refinancing deal this week, as European oil and gas issuance runs well ahead of last year’s pace.

There is an eerie silence in Asia’s high yield bond market. Issuers have pressed the pause button as they reflect on a nosedive in the secondary market and rising fears about investors hoarding cash.

Indomobil Finance Indonesia has returned to the offshore loan market for a new $100m borrowing, according to a banker invited to participate in the deal.

Kangde Xin Composite Material Group has made its debut in the offshore loan market, launching a $200m three year deal into syndication.

Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE Corp, which has failed to comply with a covenant on a $450m syndicated loan due in July, has requested lenders to waive the breach, according to bankers close to the situation.

Property firm Greentown China Holdings has returned to the offshore debt market for a $630m term loan to refinance a similar deal sealed in 2016.

A handful of Chinese investment grade rated state-owned companies are gauging investor appetite for new deals amid a weak market backdrop.