Loans and High Yield

Two issuers from the Guangxi province of China, Guangxi Financial Investment Group Co and Guangxi Communications Investment Group Corp, are hitting the dollar bond market for funds.

Market participants hoping for a surge of large leveraged buyout financings in 2018 have been rewarded already by the arrival of seveal deals. One of them is the funding to finance French engineering services firm Altran's purchase of its peer Aricent.

Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina) and Yingde Gases Group Co each sold a $500m bond on Thursday, taking advantage of a receptive market.

A $301m-equivalent five year refinancing for Trans Media Corpora has been launched into general syndication by five mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners.

Three Chinese property companies, Jiayuan International Group, Golden Wheel Tiandi Holdings Company and SEA Holdings, have managed to meet their respective funding targets despite hitting the dollar bond market on a crowded day.

Philippine oil company Petron Corp seized $500m from a tightly priced perpetual bond on January 11, winning over investors with a step-up structure.

With issuers already lining up €6bn of new deals in January, leveraged loan bankers are confident that the European market is set for another booming year in 2018.

Market discussions over loose default protection covenants have grown louder, but not always wiser, said Debt Explained, the leveraged finance analysis firm, as it launched a covenant scoring product this week. But some investors remain sceptical of such services.

Bosal, the Dutch manufacturer of industrial equipment, is selling its tow bar division to private equity firm TowerBrook. EQT has provided the financing for the acquisition.

UK property website operator Zoopla announced the first deal of 2018 in the European high yield market this week, a sub-benchmark sized bond in sterling.

India’s IL&FS Transportation Networks sold a Rmb900m ($138.21m) offshore renminbi bond on Wednesday, making it the first high yield issuer to seal a deal in the market in more than 16 months.

Chinese property companies bombarded the dollar market this week in an attempt to use their regulatory issuance quotas and seal deals before Chinese New Year. But with more borrowers expected to vie for investor attention, issuers will need to navigate the market carefully — and be ready to pay up. Morgan Davis reports.