US private placement investors, who have long held firm on covenant structures, have started to notice early signs that their ranks may be breaking, and that 2020 may be a year when weaker covenant packages become more commonplace.
The syndicated loan market’s shift from Libor to risk-free rates has come under further scrutiny.
Commercial banks are in the driving seat for the highly levered financing of Cinven and Astorg’s purchase of testing business LGC Group.
Polite, sincere, with a swift wit, David Pepper had a huge presence in Europe's syndicated loan market.
 at Loan Awards Feb 18 cropped 230x150.jpg)
It is with much sadness that GlobalCapital reports the death of David Pepper, Bank of America’s head of loan capital markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
German nursing home firm Dorea has signed an €87m credit facility, as syndicated loan bankers say mid-market borrowers will become a bigger source of business in the coming year.
Beauty-focused e-commerce company The Hut Group (THG) is building up its war chest with a £510m-equivalent Term Loan B issue. The fully underwritten issue will test the investors’ interest in the sprawling, privately-held company with ambitions in both online stores and tech services, with risky side trips to real estate.
Permira Debt Manager’s Credit Solutions II fund, a direct lending fund raised in 2015, underlined the risk of concentration in private debt funds, thanks to a sharp downgrade of the fund’s largest exposure, making up 17% of its assets.
Turkey's Garanti Bank has raised an $800.7m-equivalent loan refinancing, which was oversubscribed and welcomed new participants.
Direct lending funds have raised more money than ever this year, and are writing ever bigger cheques in the sort of investments usually done by broad syndication. However, in all but a handful of cases, syndicated financing is the better option.
Ermewa, a train lessor owned by France's state-owned railway company SNCF, is set to sell private placements to a collection of six institutional investors — none of which are from France.
Finland’s Terveystalo has refinanced its bank debt, with the healthcare provider becoming the latest corporate to switch its credit facility to be linked to sustainability metrics.
State-owned airline Dubai Aviation Corporation, known as flydubai, has refinanced its debut sukuk into a term loan — a rare win this year for the loan market, which has declined while attractive issuance conditions boost DCM volumes.
DNB Markets has hired a banker from UniCredit to join its leveraged finance team in London.
Houlihan Lokey’s European corporate finance land grab has made its fifth acquisition since 2014, writes David Rothnie, at a time when the fluctuations of the credit cycle may be about to lead to more restructurings.
Phoenix Group Holdings, the UK life insurer, has stuck a deal to acquire ReAssure, the UK closed book life insurance division of Swiss Re, for £3.2bn in cash and shares.
Vietnamese car manufacturer Truong Hai Auto Corp has closed its debut offshore borrowing, increasing the size of the loan to $210m.
Vietnamese car manufacturer Truong Hai Auto Corp has closed its debut offshore borrowing, increasing the size of the loan to $210m.
Certain US private placement (PP) investors are beginning to fear a turn in the famously prudent market, towards a world with looser financial covenants. Let us hope this remains a fear and does not become reality.
The European Union has reached preliminary political agreement on the law that will introduce its Taxonomy of Sustainable Economic Activities. The news was hailed as a triumph by green finance specialists, though there is still a risk of battles to come.
| Rank | Lead Manager | Amount $bn | No of issues | Share % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JPMorgan | 351.56 | 1023 | 10.52% |
| 2 | Bank of America Merrill Lynch | 338.93 | 1070 | 10.14% |
| 3 | Citi | 214.10 | 623 | 6.41% |
| 4 | Wells Fargo Securities | 182.48 | 686 | 5.46% |
| 5 | Mizuho | 160.04 | 675 | 4.79% |
| Rank | Lead Manager | Amount $bn | No of issues | Share % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BNP Paribas | 48.06 | 225 | 7.37% |
| 2 | Credit Agricole CIB | 43.29 | 202 | 6.64% |
| 3 | JPMorgan | 33.50 | 97 | 5.14% |
| 4 | UniCredit | 29.45 | 158 | 4.52% |
| 5 | SG Corporate & Investment Banking | 29.18 | 148 | 4.47% |
