Loans and High Yield

With pharma firms under intense scrutiny in the US, Concordia Healthcare Corp has dropped a planned $950m bond for its $3.5bn acquisition of Amdipharm Mercury, as the debt financing encountered some resistance from investors. Max Bower reports.

Ecom — Ladbrokes — Naspers — Football Association — Garanti — DNA — USG People — Capita

Dominique LeMaire is set to join ING as head of the bank’s new platform to relaunch its leveraged loan and sub-investment grade corporate bond business.

Numericable-SFR, the French telecoms company controlled by Altice, has issued new loans of €1.6bn, including a €500m European tranche due January 2023.

Investec is looking for two syndicated loans totalling $530m, one for its South African business and the other for its London arm, according to bankers on the deal.

Garfunkelux, the German debt collection company, on Thursday issued £795m of notes, in the first sizable European high yield issue for three weeks. Market participants are now eager to see how the deal will trade in the secondary market.

Activity in Asia’s secondary loan market has picked up over the past few months as banks seek to manage their portfolios more efficiently. This is attracting intermediaries such as fixed income specialist SC Lowy, which has set up a par loan trading business in the region. But while there are opportunities, there are also plenty of challenges holding back growth in the nascent market, writes Shruti Chaturvedi.

UK gambling company Gala Coral has said it intends to redeem its high yield bonds by the time its merger with peer firm Ladbrokes is completed, which is expected to happen in the first half of next year.

The third largest takeover is on. Brewer SABMiller has agreed to be bought by Anheuser-Busch InBev for £68bn, in a deal that shows continued investment confidence in Africa — one of the main attractions of SABMiller for InBev, which is weak in the continent — bucking the trend of pullback from emerging markets.

Commitments are due on Thursday October 15 for Concordia Healthcare Corp’s loans for its $3.5bn acquisition of Amdipharm Mercury from Cinven.

Moody's Liquidity Stress Index, which calculates the ease of access to cash for speculative grade companies, has risen slightly since its all time low in February, as demand in the high yield market has cooled.

China's Yingde Gases Group has cut the size of its syndicated loan to $100m from $150m, in favour of raising additional funds from an onshore renminbi bond.