Loans and High Yield

Greek gaming company Intralot is looking to refinance €200m of loans following the completion of the merger of its Italian unit with Italian gaming firm Gamenet.

Xi'an Municipal Infrastructure Construction Investment Group Corp is seeking dollar funding, becoming the latest Chinese local government financing vehicle to hit the bond market.

Two Hong Kong-based loans bankers from Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Asia Pacific debt solutions team have left the firm.

Housing Development Finance Corp, which became the first Masala bond issuer from India in July, has made a comeback to the market with a tap of its existing note.

Chinese auto rental company eHi Car Services has signed up new lenders for its $150m loan that opened for retail participation in May.

Dollar investors are getting the chance to assess two first-time issuers, with Emperor International Holdings and Union Life Insurance hitting the road.

High yield investors are showing a taste for safety as autumn begins, with double-B rated deals once again the choice. But while risk aversion is justified, buyers should focus their scrutiny on sectors, not rating bands.

Central bank monetary policy has squashed the yield out of all but some of the hairier parts of Europe’s credit markets. But despite mounting pressure to hit investment targets, high yield bond buyers in particular are proving a picky bunch when it comes to investment decisions, writes Victor Jimenez.

Saipem, the Italian oil services company, on Thursday priced €1bn of unsecured bonds in a high yield market still looking at a thin pipeline.

Primary high yield bond sales are recovering at an insufficient pace to reach last year’s levels, but corporates are favouring bonds over loans, according to the second quarter report by the Association for Financial Markets in Europe.

UK distressed debt buyer Arrow Global this week returned to the market, after selling euros in April, with a refinancing deal to repay in full its 7.875% 2020 notes.

Luxembourg-headquartered Armacell has launched a repricing request on its €445m term loan ‘B’, following Blackstone and Kirkbi’s acquisition of the foam insulation manufacturer from Charterhouse earlier this year.