Loans and High Yield

Chinese issuers are back following the Lunar New Year break. Far East Horizon and Redco Properties Group are both wooing bond investors, effectively reopening the dollar debt market in Asia.

Before this week, sterling corporate bond investors had had just four new issues to consider in 2018, but by Wednesday this had increased by three. Sterling investors have a reputation for not getting carried away with sentiment, but they have been pleased to see the increase in activity.

VPBank Finance is tapping international loan market liquidity for an up to $200m three year facility, which has two lenders at the helm.

As Europe’s leveraged finance markets return to growth, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy has added Apostolos Gkoutzinis and Rebecca Marques as partners to its leveraged finance and capital markets team.

SGG Group, the corporate and investor services firm based in Luxembourg and owned by Astorg, will fund its acquisition of UK peer First Names in the leveraged loan market, which has already enjoyed its busiest January ever in EMEA.

We are excited to announce that the GlobalCapital Bond Awards Poll is now open.

The Asian loan market has had to battle a tough few years, with record volumes in 2014 tailed by four straight annual declines. But loans bankers in the region have a feeling their time may have come.

In stark contrast with a mute high yield bond market, leveraged loan investors were expecting more than €5bn of new deals on Monday, including a $725m-equivalent deal from Swedish trade technology provider Itiviti, which includes a triple-C rated second lien.

The US high yield market is hunkering down, with skittish investors pulling a record amount of cash for the sector this week while the proportion of investors shorting high yield exchange traded funds hits a post-crisis high. David Bell reports.

Investors in Europe’s leveraged finance markets have started to fight for better pricing and deal terms. But a lack of supply is playing in borrowers' favour.

Investors want the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (Afme) to bulk up their fight against loose high yield bond terms. Afme wants high yield investors to pay a fee for the first time. With borrowers only now tentatively coming back after an unusual risk off pause, this week’s confrontation between Afme and some investor members will add uncertainty to new deal pricing, said market participants.

Bookrunners will start marketing the financing for KKR’s buyout of Unilever’s spread business as soon as next week, with the European high yield bond and the leveraged loan market both braced for supply.