Loans and High Yield

Conditions in Europe's leveraged finance market are arguably better than ever for issuers, with some measures of yields hitting historic lows. Many believe they cannot last. But try as they might, bankers cannot find enough issuers to bring deals, writes Max Bower.

Nordic low cost airline Norwegian Air Shuttle will meet investors about a tap of its only euro bond on Monday. This time, it also plans a new €370m deal in Norwegian kroner.

Chinese banks are set to take up a bigger market share when it comes to financing M&A in 2017, building on their dominant presence in the Asian loan market last year. The stage is set for more collaboration between Mainland and international banks, according to panellists speaking at a leveraged and acquisition finance conference in Hong Kong on Wednesday. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

HSBC has promoted Sheldon Wong to head its Middle Market Financial Sponsors (MMFS) team in Asia Pacific, a segment tipped to grow alongside the region’s increasing M&A volumes.

German mining firm K+S issued in the bond market for the second time in the past six weeks on Wednesday, in investment grade style despite its October downgrade into high yield ratings.

The European corporate bond market is again packed to bursting on Wednesday, with six new issues, among which Apple is likely to be one of the most sought after names. This week is building up to a huge total, as LVMH has already raised €4.5bn and Anheuser-Busch InBev £2.25bn.

Logan Property raised a $450m bond on Tuesday, achieving its lowest yield in the international debt market. The lack of high yield paper from Chinese real estate developers and the company’s strong profitability helped drum up demand.

VPBank Finance, the consumer finance arm of state-owned Vietnam Prosperity Bank, has raised the size of its syndicated loan to $150m. The deal was initially signed at $100m late last year, with the amount now increased after more banks came in.

Euronav, the unrated Belgian oil tanker group, made its debut in the bond market on Tuesday after a second consecutive year of profits in a declining industry.

Following the new structure announced in Barclays banking and markets business last week, JF Astier, who now heads capital markets, has laid out the senior leadership of the business, and Jonathan Brown, co-head of IG syndicate, has moved to a new job.

Litigation finance house Burford Capital is set to become this year’s second issuer on the London Stock Exchange’s Order book for Retail Bonds (Orb).

Slower primary issuance in Asia’s syndicated loan market has spurred retail lenders to look for opportunities in secondary — a challenge considering the market is severely underdeveloped. But this is all the more reason for bankers to cultivate a deeper and more expansive market for secondary trading as the move would provide plenty of benefits.