Loans and High Yield

US private equity firm Hellman & Friedman has made a $5.3bn-equivalent offer for digital payments company Nets, with the Nordic company urging investors on Monday to accept the deal.

The European leveraged credit market’s return to pre-financial crisis levels of valuations and leverage multiples does not come with as many risks as it did a decade ago, despite striking similarities in the market, according to Fitch.

I Squared Capital’s $900m-equivalent Hong Kong dollar loan backing its acquisition of Hutchison Global Communications (HGC) pulled in more than 20 banks during senior syndication, with more expected to join before the deal wraps up this week.

Chinese steel company Shougang Group Co is returning to the dollar debt market with a new five year bond, while Yuzhou Properties Company is drumming up interest for its debut senior perpetual transaction.

China’s Nan Hai Corp has mandated two firms to work on a dollar-denominated deal, its third outing of the year but its first without a standby letter of credit (SBLC).

Banque Pour Le Commerce Exterieur Lao Public (BCEL), the biggest state-owned lender in Laos, is set to make its offshore loan debut with a $100m four year facility.

Samson Paper raised HK$780m ($100m) from its latest outing to the syndicated loan market, with strong demand lifting the deal from an initial size of HK$570m.

Tianjin Real Estate Group Co raised $100m from a 4.5% bond on Friday, the lone Asian issuer to have priced a transaction.

Three sub-investment grade borrowers printed deals in the high yield corporate bond market on Thursday using different tenors to raise a combined €1.06bn.

Stada, the German pharmaceutical firm, has shrunk its leveraged loan by €250m and increased its high yield bond by the same amount, ahead of the loan's commitment deadline on Thursday.

Stada Arzneimittel, the German pharmaceuticals firm being bought in a €5.3bn deal by Bain Capital and Cinven, opened a bond roadshow on Monday after marketing €2bn of leveraged loans last week .

UK housebuilder Miller Homes this week brought its first high yield deal, coming at a time when spreads on sterling bonds with speculative grade ratings have tightened more than 100bp so far this year.