Loans and High Yield

SEA Holdings, Guangzhou R&F Properties and a Changchun local government financing vehicle took advantage of the abundant liquidity in the bond market by locking in funds on Thursday.

Telecom company TalkTalk and loan guarantor Amigo have this week jumped into the wave of new high yield bond issues listing on the Channel Islands Securities Exchange (CISE) as a way to get round the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), writes Victor Jimenez.

The Carlyle Group promoted 62 staff to senior positions on Wednesday — 13 of them to partner, 17 to managing director and 32 to principal.

In the leveraged loan market, where pricing has plummeted, it was inevitable that issuers would push their luck with the terms of their deals. Investors must push back.

Aggressive leveraged loan borrowers are pushing investors to breaking point. Sponsors have milked buyers’ desperation for yield with ever looser covenants to the extent that one investor said, this week, that the situation was worse than at any point since the financial crisis.

UK premium car maker Jaguar Land Rover on Thursday sold its first euro bond at one of the lowest coupons seen in the high yield market in the last two years.

The sterling high yield bond market on Thursday sent a message of confidence to issuers as UK telecoms firm TalkTalk increased its £300m unsecured bond on the back of heavy demand.

Two KKR backed firms have brought the first European leveraged loan market repricings of the year, picking up on a trend that is already in full swing in the US this year.

M&A in Asia has started on a strong note this year, with the first big financing — for McDonald’s China’s $2.08bn acquisition by Citic and Carlyle — under way. While details of the syndicated loan are limited at this stage, the transaction has already gathered plenty of attention from bankers, writes Shruti Chaturvedi.

Details on pricing have emerged on CT Corp company Trans Retail Indonesia’s $575m five year loan, which is expected to be pre-funded by seven lenders shortly.

Corporates from Hong Kong, China and Singapore were clamouring for investors’ attention on Thursday for their respective offerings.

UK guarantor loans company Amigo Loans on Wednesday became the third European business to launch a high yield bond this year and the second to list on the increasingly popular Channel Islands Securities Exchange.