Loans and High Yield

The European high yield market began printing €600m of new deals on Thursday, as issuer-friendly conditions allow repricings at ever lower coupon levels. But one investor sounded fears that such good times may not last.

The global head of private credit at KKR has left the firm — despite its filing documents for a third ‘Lending Partners’ fund this week, suggesting it is raising another direct lending vehicle.

Swiss steelmaker Schmolz + Bickenbach opened the euro high yield market on Monday with a sub-benchmark sized deal, extending March’s stream of opportunistic refinancing deals.

Chinese property developer Jingrui Holdings leveraged off a yield-hunting environment and its strong financial improvement to raise $400m from its return to the offshore debt market this week.

Indonesia’s triple-C rated Indika Energy priced a $265m bond on Monday on the back of a nearly five times subscribed book. The issuer’s rating story was complicated by downgrades over the past year, but investors were willing to consider its likely future as a B2 rated credit. Morgan Davis reports.

India’s JSW Steel raised $500m from its new five year notes on Wednesday, finding strong support from European accounts familiar with its credit and business.

Issuers from Greater China, including Yanzhou Coal Mining Company (Yancoal) and Regal Hotels International Holdings, have opened books for new perpetual notes, while China Oil and Gas Group has mandated firms for its return.

Modernland Realty launched a new dollar deal on Thursday, following on the success of other high yield Indonesian names this year.

The loan package backing Ardian’s buyout of Prosol Group, the parent of French food retailer Grand Frais, is set to increase leverage at the firm to more than five-and-a-half times Ebitda, a level that one investor said was overly aggressive in the sector.

Spanish car parts supplier Grupo Antolin found strong demand for its refinancing deal on Thursday in a high yield market where new bond sale volumes have dropped to less than a third of March’s €3bn average.

Petra Diamonds became the first South African issuer to test the markets in the wake of an aggressive cabinet reshuffle that saw the dismissal of respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan last week.

Corporate bond issuers in Europe were making up for lost time with a slew of deals on Wednesday, after a sluggish start this week with just one deal for Renault’s finance arm RCI Banque on Monday. Books are big and deals are tightening strongly in bookbuild.