Loans and High Yield

Gates Global, the US power transmission belt maker, rescheduled commitments for a euro term loan add-on to Thursday, after increasing it by nearly €200m from around €275m. The move came in a week when JP Morgan analysts and others voiced concern about risks in the leveraged finance market.

Mimi Cheng, chief representative of First Gulf Bank in Hong Kong, has left the firm less than a year after taking over the position.

Issuers from Greater China are dominating the dollar debt market, as they vie for investor attention on Thursday alongside a couple of south and southeast Asian names.

French industrial equipment lessor Loxam launched the financing backing its acquisition of Lavendon on Wednesday, an €850m three tranche high yield offering.

French cable manufacturer Nexans launched a €200m bond on Wednesday, bringing back the bookrunners on a bond sale it had to cancel two years ago — but this time, the market was ‘diametrically different’, said bankers.

Saipem, the Italian oil and gas engineering group, entered the high yield bond market on Wednesday, backed by a return to profit and rising oil prices, in a deal set to attract the company’s home crowd.

Thriving local investor demand, as well as determined government efforts at both national and local level to finance Japanese green projects, could soon encourage an underwhelming domestic green bond market to bloom, writes David Bell.

Four years after Abenomics was implemented, and following ratings downgrades in 2015, prospects are beginning to improve for Japan’s top credits. With the financial year starting in April there are reasons to be positive. Foreign investors are returning to the Japanese debt market, the economy is showing some improvement and companies are ramping up their funding targets. GlobalCapital sat down with senior officials from some of the most highly regarded issuers in Japan, as well as respected bankers, to find out about their fundraising plans and how they will approach the debt markets.

Japan’s economic and political stability is making its domestic credit markets an attractive haven in light of political uncertainty in Europe and the US. With global monetary policies diverging, Japanese debt is becoming an attractive proposition for an increasing number, and variety, of overseas investors, writes David Bell.

In a busy week for European corporate bond issuance, two hybrid capital issues are taking centre stage.

Fujian Yango Group sealed its inaugural international bond on Tuesday, snapping up $300m from a guaranteed bond. A quiet debt market in Asia worked in the issuer’s favour, but it still had to pay a premium for its unrated status.

China Huiyuan Juice Group has sealed a slightly larger than planned syndicated loan of €160m with four banks. A few more lenders are still set to join, which will further bump up the fundraising, according to a source.