Loans and High Yield

Investcorp, the Bahraini investment house, wants to more than double its leveraged credit portfolio to $25bn, after buying the global debt business from 3i.

Europe’s vibrant direct lending market, in which specialist funds lend privately to companies, often without bank arrangers, is swallowing bigger and bigger deals. But the market is heading for trouble when the credit cycle turns, participants warn. Max Bower and Jon Hay report.

New deals marketed this week by US borrowers Owens-Illinois and Federal-Mogul pushed reverse Yankee issuance to 25% of the €22bn of euro high yield issuance so far in 2017.

Albéa, the French packaging firm owned by Sun Capital Partners, has scheduled a bank meeting for Monday in London about a $921m-equivalent bond to loan refinancing and dividend recapitalisation.

India’s Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) is negotiating with lenders to extend maturities on syndicated and bilateral loans worth a total of about $760m, according to sources. With commodity prices having come out of last year’s lows, lenders are thawing to the sector but will continue to approach it with caution, writes Shruti Chaturvedi.

Hong Kong-listed Fosun International is back in the syndicated loan market for $650m equivalent to refinance a $800m deal raised two years ago.

Cosmetics packaging company HCP Global has approached lenders for a $540m borrowing that will replace a $430m loan sealed last year, according to bankers.

Emperor International Holdings, Xinjiang Guanghui Industry Investment (Group) Co, Japfa Comfeed Indonesia and Zhuhai Huafa Group Co ventured into the debt market on Thursday, following some recovery in credits in the US overnight.

Another day, another €1.5bn of high yield bond offerings was what Tuesday’s deals from Aramark, Anglo American and Arrow meant for a European market awash with double-B rated paper. But too much of a good thing is putting off some traditional high yield buyers.

Volkswagen has returned to the public straight bond markets in its own name for the first time since September 2015, when it was swept from the market by its emissions test cheating scandal. Bond markets being what they are, a multi-billion euro blowout is likely.

Hong Kong-listed Fosun International is set to return to the syndicated loan market to refinance a $800m deal raised two years ago, according to a banker.

China Zheshang Bank Co is out with its maiden international additional tier one, while Xinjiang Guanghui Industry Investment (Group) Co, the largest shareholder in China Grand Auto, is prepping for its offshore debut.