Loans and High Yield

HIG Capital has appointed a new head of HIG WhiteHorse Europe, the private equity firm’s European direct lending affiliate.

Austrian sensor maker AMS has added €200m and $50m to its July 2025 notes, taking the total to €1.25bn. The debt raise is intended to refinance a €2.77bn bridge loan, of which €1.47bn is drawn, used to buy Munich-based lighting maker Osram.

The Australian short seller, John Hempton of Bronte Capital, told investors that the profits his hedge fund Bronte Capital made on Wirecard’s collapse will not make up losses incurred during his lengthy short of the German payments company. It was an illustration, he said, of the dangers of betting against frauds and highlights the importance of risk management.

Chinese car manufacturer Great Wall Motors has paid up for its return to the loan market for a $440m-equivalent dual-currency deal.

Asia’s dollar bond market shows no sign of slowing down, after a flurry of deals were announced on Monday.

Chinese issuers continued to bombard the dollar bond market on Thursday. Hangzhou Financial Investment Group Co, Yankuang Group Co and ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance were among those that sold deals.

KKR has closed two bilateral loans to support its acquisition of Vinhomes Joint Stock Co, GlobalCapital Asia understands.

JP Morgan has extended its lead in European investment banking, scotching accusations of a retreat and dashing hopes of a change in the status quo, writes David Rothnie.

High yield bond issuance is coming thick and fast in Europe, with primary supply not limited to straightforward Covid-proof credits, but also coming from highly levered firms feeling the pinch of the pandemic restrictions.

Swedish alarm firm Verisure underlined improved leveraged finance conditions when it returned to market for a refinancing. The company was the first European high yield issuer out after the coronavirus crisis, with a tentative floating rate note in April, but its latest refi proved to be a blowout, with a huge size increase and pricing through talk.

Bitė, a mobile, broadband and pay-TV firm in the Baltic region, and a portfolio company of Providence Private Equity, priced a dividend recap and refinancing of its whole capital structure this week, funded by a dual-tranche high-yield bond offering. This marks the company’s return to bond markets after nearly five years of financing through loans.

Axiom Alternative Investments has launched a new long/short global high yield fund, following the hire of Gilles Frisch as a portfolio manager last year, targeting the opportunities that will come through at the end of this credit cycle.