Loans and High Yield

Investors had to get to grips with the dynamics of Mainland water supply this week as China Water Affairs Group made a $300m debut on Wednesday.

A recent spate of high profile loans has shown that Indian banks have the ability to execute highly structured M&A funding. This has reignited gripes about rules that bar Indian lenders from funding acquisitions of domestic companies, hindering the growth of small borrowers with big ambitions. Shruti Chaturvedi reports.

India’s Jain Irrigation Systems sold its maiden international deal on Wednesday, taking $200m from Asia’s first green bond of the year. Finding comparables was a big challenge given the issuer’s focus on irrigation for agriculture, with the leads juggling feedback from investors to find the right price. Rashmi Kumar reports.

MUFG has hired two directors in its leveraged finance team in London, following the appointment of a new head of loan syndications last year.

Vedanta Resources has become the first Indian high yield issuer this year, raking in $1bn from a 5.5 year transaction. A strong rally in its outstanding bonds, combined with a turnaround in both the company’s credit and the commodities industry, ensured tight pricing and a successful outcome.

The Universities Superannuation Scheme, one of the UK’s largest pension schemes, has bought most of $3.1bn of senior loans to direct lenders from Credit Suisse, a first in a market which promises growth as institutional funds look for more esoteric products to find yield.

Corporate bond issuers are still coming to the euro market, but at a slower pace than in the past fortnight — perhaps a good thing, as signs of indigestion began to creep into the secondary market last week, and some new issues traded weakly.

Fujian Zhanglong Group Co raised $150m from a tap on Tuesday, in a deal driven by reverse enquiry and anchored by indications of interest ahead of launch.

Indomobil Finance Indonesia has increased the size of its latest syndicated loan to $250m from the initial $100m, keeping with its tradition of absorbing demand rather than heavily scaling back participants.

Vedanta Resources has become the first Indian high yield issuer this year, raking in $1bn from a 5.5 year transaction. A strong rally in its outstanding bonds, combined with a turnaround in both the company’s credit and the commodities industry, ensured tight pricing and a successful outcome.

India is set to welcome its first international green bond of the year, as Jain Irrigation Systems opened books for an up to $250m transaction.

VodafoneZiggo obtained the go-ahead from leveraged loan investors on Tuesday to increase the size of its refinancing deal by more than €2bn while cutting margins.