Loans and High Yield

The recent sell-off in US government bonds has grabbed plenty of headlines, with some observers fearing the negativity could spill over to Asia. But if this week’s primary issuance volume is anything to go by, the region is unlikely to be perturbed by the volatility, writes Rev Hui.

Bankers are lining up behind private equity bids for Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari — ICBPI — the banking payments servicer, with a bond likely to back one team’s bid.

Global and Chinese banks are keenly awaiting the term sheet for a Bank of China-led syndicated loan facility to back the acquisition of the LED component and automotive lighting business of Philips by private equity investors.

Hong Kong listed Fosun International has allocated its latest borrowing among 22 lenders. Banks are eager to establish a relationship with Fosun, which is snapping up assets across continents. Their interest led the Chinese company to increase its loan to $800m from $500m.

Archroma, the Swiss colour and speciality chemicals company, is sounding out early bird lenders for a $404m loan that will fund an acquisition and refinance debt.

Flint Group, the Luxembourg-headquartered UK provider of products and supplies for the printing and packaging industries, is seeking a price cut on a €1.5bn-equivalent loan.

Four lenders have joined Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam’s (BIDV) $100m loan during the senior phase. The deal is now open in general syndication and comes at a time when banks are eager to book sovereign-backed Vietnamese assets, while dealflow from southeast Asia is lacklustre.

The corporate bond market shuddered to life on Wednesday, after a slow start to the week as issuers avoided market volatility caused by uncertainty over Greece’s ability to pay its creditors and a sell-off in Bunds.

Agile Property Holdings this week overcame a busy market and some residual wariness about Chinese high yield property credits to price its first deal in over a year.

Indonesian vehicle financing firm BFI Finance launched its $75m three year fundraising with a $25m greenshoe, into general syndication on May 11.

Autodis, the French car parts distributor, priced a €60m tap late yesterday, pricing the deal at 103.25 to yield 5.518% to maturity.

A double digit rally in Chinese property bonds has tempted Agile Property Holdings back into the market for the first time in over a year. Since its previous outing it has been forced to extend the deadline on a loan, seen the departure and return of its chairman and suffered a credit rating downgrade. Despite that, the borrower is likely to opt for price over size, said bankers.