Loans and High Yield

China Forestry Group Corp and local government financing vehicles from Xinyi and Tieling are among the issuers waiting for a green light from the National Development and Reform Commission to sell foreign currency debt.

Cathay United Bank has hired a senior banker from DBS to helm its corporate banking operations in Hong Kong.

Chinese property developer Yanlord Land Group has rolled out its $600m dual-tranche financing into general syndication.

Large leveraged buyouts may be set for a return to Europe’s leveraged finance market following a lengthy sojourn. Stada, the German generic pharmaceuticals firm, this week said it was fielding numerous buyout offers worth around €3.5bn, offering investors the respite from relentless repricings that they have craved for several months. Max Bower reports.

HSBC is overhauling the leadership of its leveraged and acquisition finance and sponsor coverage teams in Asia Pacific, with some senior changes taking place this week. While sources emphasised this does not signify a retreat, the moves have put a focus on what some consider a somewhat “static” job market for acquisition and leveraged finance in the region. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

Blackstone has bought a majority stake in London-based cloud software firm Cloudreach, adding further to its existing queue of European buyouts waiting to be financed.

Chinese digital map provider NavInfo has hit the syndicated loan market for €110m to fund its acquisition of a stake in a European target.

Investment houses BlueBay in London and Brandywine in Philadelphia have joined this week a recent spate of high yield portfolio managers growing new funds beyond a specific regional focus.

Chinese high yield property issuers have shown that they have investors in the palms of their hands, taking advantage of accounts’ hunger for yield to price deals at levels that would have been impossible a few months ago. But as more property companies face refinancing needs and investors spend their cash, borrowers will need to adapt to a tougher pricing environment.

Chinese state-owned Qinghai Provincial Investment Group Co sealed its inaugural dollar bond on a quiet day in Asia DCM, bagging $300m from an over 8x subscribed transaction. But pricing was somewhat constrained by the country's weak aluminium sector.

Xinyuan Real Estate is drumming up interest for its first international bond of the year, hiring seven firms to work on a Reg S transaction.

UK mortgage lender Together Financial was the only new deal in the European high yield bond market of the week when, on Wednesday, it sold a sterling offering that received firm demand in a rare example of a single-B name opting for bonds over leveraged loans.