Loans and High Yield

With PeopleCert and The Very Group closing high yield deals this week, the market is close to already trumping the yearly record of €103.2bn set in 2020. However, clear indications of a cooling period have pushed that moment into early August.

Adamo, a broadband company, has agreed a €600m sustainability-linked loan, it said on Wednesday. The cash will be used for refinancing and to fund the expansion of its fibre network into rural Spain.

Aligning with a global commercial bank has been on Jefferies’ agenda for several years, but its alliance with SMBC signals an intent to join the investment banking big league. By David Rothnie.

The Loan Market Association (LMA) and the European Leveraged Finance Association (ELFA) jointly released a best practice guide for sustainability-linked loans on Wednesday. The guidance is aimed specifically at the leveraged loan market and stresses the importance of agreeing on clearly defined key performance indicators ahead of announcing a SLL.

Chia Tai Animal Husbandry Investment (Beijing) Co, an onshore China entity of Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group, is borrowing its first offshore loan directly.

PeopleCert, a UK firm that specialises in certifying professional skills, is marketing €300m of senior secured high yield notes, to finance the acquisition of UK peer Axelos.

Dutch healthcare company Affidea has signed a €150m senior secured loan to pursue growth opportunities, weeks after Moody’s upgraded the company’s B2 outlook from negative to stable.

Fujian Yango Group Co has sold a $250m bond as part of a liability management exercise.

Troubled Belgian bathroom fixtures firm Ideal Standard has struggled to sell high yield bonds, slashing the size of its deal and yanking up the yield. Meanwhile, the transaction is down at least three points on the first day of trading.

Online retailer The Very Group is looking for £575m of senior secured notes, in a bid to refinance its capital stack.

India’s largest ever leveraged buyout loan, tied to Blackstone’s stake purchase in IT services company Mphasis, is in the market, after inviting a wide group of banks to participate in general syndication.

Increased concerns about the impact and spread of the Covid-19 virus, as well as China property bond volatility, dented the dollar bond market in Asia last week, leading to significant widening in the high yield sector.