Loans and High Yield

The story of the leveraged finance market in 2016 was in many ways the story of the LBO — or perhaps more aptly, the non-story.

Senior European fixed income investors believe high yield issuers will find it more difficult to refinance bond debt in the market in 2017, according to a Fitch survey — but around a third also tip the asset class as their favoured marginal choice.

Commitments for CVC-owned French healthcare firm Elsan were due on Thursday for its €730m acquisition term loan, after guidance was tightened twice in an ever bullish loan market as the year end drew near.

Next year’s Asian loan market could see a shift in dynamics as lenders juggle rate hikes and abundant liquidity. Borrowers could also turn away from bonds in favour of syndicated lending, setting the stage for a year of growth, writes Shruti Chaturvedi.

The many Chinese issuers seeking offshore funding will need to negotiate a delicate dance in the new year. Volatility has rocked markets in the last 12 months, meaning issuers will have to stay nimble if they want to garner investor attention. Morgan Davis and Addison Gong report.

Shandong Ruyi Technology Group grabbed the market’s attention with its debut international bond on Tuesday, reeling in investors searching for an alternative to notes from local government financing vehicles.

US data centre firm Equinix has doubled the size of its euro term loan offering to €1bn, as it looks to acquire 29 data facilities from Verizon for $3.6bn, even as one investor noted an unusual 50% collateral cap on the firm’s secured debt.

Fitch has hired the former head of loan capital markets within Commerzbank’s leveraged finance team, who joins the agency’s corporate rating operation.

Local government financing vehicle (LGFV) Xuzhou Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone State Asset Management Co and property developer China Vanke Co announced their respective dollar-denominated bonds on Thursday, following the US Federal Reserve’s decision to lift interest rates.

Chinese local government financing vehicles (LGFVs) have been one of the key drivers of bond volumes this year as they hit the international market in large numbers. The increasing supply means there is more scrutiny of the underlying risk but the sector looks set for another bumper year in 2017. Addison Gong reports.

Tata International Singapore has mandated one bank to supply a $110m loan, which will be used to make payments to bondholders.

Bridgepoint launched a dividend recapitalisation term loan of its restaurant firm the Azzurri Group with a lender call on Thursday afternoon, the private equity firm's second since October.