Loans and High Yield

GlobalCapital is delighted to announce the winners of its Bond Awards for 2017. The results were revealed at a gala dinner at London's Globe Theatre on May 23. Thank you to everyone who supported the event by attending and voting in the polls that decided who were the best and brightest in bonds over the last 12 months.

US investment house Muzinich sealed the first closing of its new pan-European private debt fund on Tuesday, amid a widespread rise in interest in the asset class.

ICG’s previous head of credit fund management Dagmar Kent Kershaw has taken a new role in the investment sector, following a sabbatical after leaving ICG last June.

Swiss fintech firm Avaloq released price guidance on its Sfr410m-equivalent of euro loans this week in a deal backing Warburg Pincus’s minority investment at a valuation of over Sfr1bn. It follows French packaging firm Verllia’s repricing of its €1.375bn term loan down to 300bp on Monday.

CVC owned Douglas, the German retailer, held a lender call on Wednesday for a €300m incremental term loan, backing its acquisition of Leading Luxury Group, the Italian beauty chain.

Law firm Linklaters has appointed cross-border leveraged finance specialist Nathalie Hobbs its regional managing partner for Asia.

African agriculture conglomerate Export Trading Group (ETG) has approached the loan market for a borrowing of up to $100m.

International consumer finance company Home Credit Group is syndicating a slice of its €500m fundraising to Asian banks.

Beijing Gas Group Company and China Construction Bank (Hong Kong) have opened books for a fixed five year bullet and a three year floater, respectively.

The euro high yield market will be dining on small portions this week, far from the recovery in bond issuance volumes of the past four months but indicative of times ahead, bankers and analysts agreed — that is, unless the European Central Bank increases short term interest rates.

Spanish geotechnical engineering firm Terratest has signed a €60m unitranche deal with Tikehau IM, as it looks to complete its restructuring following its acquisition by Platinum Equity in 2014.

Nest, the UK national employment savings trust, has become the latest in “a flurry” of buyers to move into high yield bonds.