Nomura

Leveraged finance lenders are assessing the structure and leverage of Bestway, the UK food wholesaler that is buying Co-op Pharmacy’s owner, after a bank meeting on Friday to market a £725m loan for the acquisition.

Sovereign, supranational and agency borrowers this week enjoyed conditions that smacked of the exuberance of 2006 and 2007, but those issuers wanting to take advantage of supply-starved investors next week will have only a narrow window — as a Federal Open Market Committee meeting, a holiday in Japan and Scotland’s vote on independence will make opportunities for issuance few and far between.

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Australian gaming products company Aristocrat Leisure plans to market its $1.3bn seven year senior secured term loan to US investors. The company is raising the money to fund its acquisition of US gaming operator Video Gaming Technologies and to refinance debt.

Co-op Pharmacy will hold a bank meeting this Friday to market a £725m loan that backs its buyout by Bestway, the UK food wholesale group.

Ed Steel, former managing director and global head of equity derivatives trading at Standard Chartered in Hong Kong, has joined Nomura in London.

Borse Dubai closed the books last night on the sale of a 3.1% stake in the London Stock Exchange Group for £171.7m, as it readies funds to fully subscribe to the UK exchange’s planned rights issue.

West China Cement marked a successful return to the bond market on September 4 by pricing a five year non-call three deal well through its closest comparable — Yingde Gases Investment. The bond was built on the back of strong anchor support, which was surprising given the predicament the Chinese cement industry finds itself in.

Australian gaming products maker Aristocrat Leisure is eyeing the US market for a $1.3bn seven year senior secured term loan. The company plans to use the money to fund its acquisition of US gaming operator Video Gaming Technologies and to refinance debt.

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From being all but frozen out of the capital markets a little over two years ago, eurozone periphery sovereigns could soon be in the position to dictate terms and push investors on duration, said bankers this week, following Portugal’s return to the 15 year part of the curve for the first time since the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Spain’s longest ever print. New measures from the European Central Bank that sent yields tumbling could put the sovereigns in an even stronger position, although that might not extend to Greece, which is planning a seven year bond for later this year.

The Central Bank of Tunisia has hired Nomura to arrange a yen deal. The deal will be backed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, said a source close to the deal.