Loans and High Yield

BNP Paribas has made two senior hires in high yield secondary markets, poaching trader Mike Wheeler from Morgan Stanley and salesman Justin Perry from JP Morgan.

Orion Engineered Carbons has become the fourth company to pull a leveraged loan this month, as Greek-induced volatility batters the market.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp has increased its commitment to European leveraged finance, buying a $2.2bn portfolio of leveraged buyout loans from GE Capital.

Philippine lender China Banking Corp (China Bank) marked the end of an eight year absence from the syndicated loans market with the signing of a $158m loan on June 25.

Banks have prepared a high yield issue to finance Cinven's acquisition of a majority stake in Synlab Holding, the German laboratory services provider, in a market quietened by unease about Greek politics.

The People's Bank of China surprised the markets over the weekend by slashing rates for the fourth time since November 2014. But the Asian dollar bond market has been paralysed on June 29, due to the spectre of a Greek default and exit from the euro. The only issuer braving the market is China Huiyuan Juice Group which opened books for a three year deal in euros that was fully covered by anchor orders.

A loan that had been in syndication since April from Hyva Global has been turned into a smaller club deal, but some lenders said weak sales in China prompted them to stay away.

Investment grade corporate bond syndicate bankers expect this week to be quiet, after Greece and its creditors gave up trying to reach a debt deal, but fears of a shutdown seem far away.

German cosmetics firm Douglas Holding, which is being acquired by CVC Partners from Advent International, sold €635m of high yield bonds on Friday after cutting their size for a second time.

Chinese real estate corporate Wuzhou International Holdings has raised $100m from a tap of its 13.75% 2018s, this is the second re-opening on the bonds and was driven by reverse enquiry.

Port and ferry service provider Zhuhai Holdings Investment, which is seeking a HK$1bn ($128m) borrowing in general, has received commitments from two banks.

Bond traders are eagerly awaiting hints about what could be drastic changes to the landscape of European bond trading, as the European Securities and Markets Authority took a crucial decision in Paris this week, writes Jon Hay.