Loans and High Yield

European leveraged loan bankers and investors had a chance to sit back and take stock of the market this week, as no deals were launched, after 20 arrived in a surprisingly busy January.

Two acquisition financings are due to hit general syndication after Chinese New Year. One is a loan for Baring Private Equity Asia’s acquisition of HCP Global, and the other is for Singha Asia, which is buying stakes in two companies from Vietnam’s Masan through the issue of new capital.

Labeyrie Fine Foods, the French producer of smoked salmon and foie gras, on Wednesday sold a €80m tap of its 2021 secured notes to finance the acquisition of food producers Pére Olive and King Cuisine from Aqualande.

Goldman Sachs has named a new head of its EMEA financing group, which houses primary capital markets, as Jim Esposito switches roles to become chief strategy officer of the securities division.

Law firm Fried Frank has hired an experienced specialist to set up a European restructuring practice.

Worldwide Flight Services, the French cargo and luggage handling company, is seeking to raise €240m through a bond tap and new issue, to support its purchase of US peer Consolidated Aviation Services.

Two banks are working on separate loans for financing to back ChemChina's $43bn cash offer to acquire Swiss company Syngenta.

The wave of Chinese acquisitions of Western companies has reached a new peak, with confirmation that state-owned ChemChina has sealed the deal to buy Syngenta, the Swiss agrichemicals and seeds business, for $43bn, as China seeks to secure its food supply.

Integrated natural gas company, China Gas, and milk producer China Modern Dairy have become the latest Chinese borrowers to prepay foreign currency loans.

Alliance Automotive, the Blackstone-owned French car parts supplier, this week tapped its 2021 notes for €70m as the European high yield market tries to regain momentum after a poor January.

Acadia, the US psychiatric and behavioural healthcare provider, closed its $955m term loan facility on Thursday after first adding, then removing, a sterling tranche.

SolarWinds, the US IT management software firm, priced its $1.5bn first lien acquisition debt package at a hefty discount on Monday while finalising the euro tranche size.