Loans and High Yield

Mid-market sterling cov-lite seems to have made it over the line this week, with Sky Bet set to close books on Friday, Northgate having been allocated and Advanced Computer Solutions preplacing the sterling tranche of its acquisition facility.

Wittur, the German lift components producer, set price guidance for its €285m ($322.23m) acquisition loan at a London bank meeting on Monday, a day before its new private equity owner, Bain Capital, added TI Automotive to its portfolio.

The European second lien leveraged loan market has had a rough start to the year. Low volumes, due to unattractive pricing and competing junior debt products, have made it a tough sell to subordinated debt investors.

After a brutal year in 2014, in which several senior staff were cut or left the bank, UBS’s European levfin business has a fixer in the shape of Jim Boland.

Techniplas, the privately-owned US maker of plastic components, cancelled its sale of a €135m debut bond on Monday — a rare deal failure in a buoyant European high yield market.

UK online gambling business Sky Bet has widened the margin on its £340m leveraged loan by 25bp as the deal nears its deadline for commitments.

Advanced Computer Solutions, the UK software and IT services provider, has widened pricing on the dollar tranches of its £498.5m acquisition loan, in response to weak market conditions in the US.

Pelabuhan Indonesia II (Pelindo II) surprised loans bankers this week with its decision to limit a $1bn borrowing to just over half that amount, causing the cancellation of general syndication. This was just the latest twist for a loan that has been anything but straightforward, though the outcome is unlikely to hurt the borrower in the long run.

Delhi International Airport (Dial) attracted a strongly oversubscribed book for its international bond market debut. The $288.75m seven year bullet was more than 17 times covered and traded up on January 21.

Chinese consumer electronics appliance maker Haier International has allocated its three year facility at a larger-than-launch size of $360m. The borrower’s relationship banks came in with big tickets, encouraged by the company's growth potential and leading position in China.

China Auto Rental (CAR) broke new ground when it became the first Asian car rental company to sell an offshore bond on January 28. Strong demand from investors allowed it to increase the deal and bankers hope its success will encourage some much needed diversification in the high yield market, writes Narae Kim.

Indonesia industrials are returning to the dollar bond market, with MAXpower Group and Tower Bersama Infrastructure readying new deals.