Loans and High Yield

Mid-December is rarely the perfect time to take out more than €1bn of LBO financing, but 2020 has been full of surprises, and BC Partners’ acquisition debt for its investment in Italian machinery maker Industria Macchine Automatiche (IMA) flew off the shelf — though not without a tweak to the most aggressive documentation terms. Plenty of other high yield issuers also spotted the window, which looks set to make this December record-breaking.

Direct lender Alcentra has raised €557m for its second European fund focusing on stressed and distressed debt. AlbaCore closed a new disclocation fund with $1bn of commitments this week, too. Both aim to tap into companies that have fallen down the credit spectrum during the pandemic.

Two European borrowers are looking to reprice leveraged loans tighter for the first time since the coronavirus crisis hit, underscoring the market’s strong tone following its recovery. Groupe CEP, a French insurance broker, was one of the first post-pandemic loan deals to break cover in early June, when the market still wanted to see some spread on new facilities.

Vedanta Resources sold a $1bn bond this week, easing mounting concerns about its debt repayment abilities. The metal and mining company’s return was not easy, as it had to concede to a number of investor-friendly terms. Morgan Davis reports.

French supermarket group Casino has launched a refinancing to clean out its upcoming debt maturities, hitting the final issuance slot given the long syndication timeline for raising a term loan' B'. It aims to issue a €200m TLB and a €300m unsecured bond, while launching a tender offer to buy back up to €1.2bn of outstanding debt.

Jaguar Land Rover seized this week’s strong market window to raise enough cash to clear out its 2021 bond maturity by taking advantage of investor appetite for cyclical sectors. Good conditions encouraged it to raise $150m extra from its original plan.

Sister affiliate alternative asset managers Candriam and New York Life Alternatives have bought a minority stake in European private credit firm Kartesia. The strategic partnership will bolster Kartesia’s financial position and keep the firm competitive as direct lenders in Europe increase their firepower.

Seazen Holdings Co, a Chinese real estate developer, sold a $450m bond on Tuesday that was paired with tender offers for two notes coming due next year.

China's Tianqi Lithium is set to sell a minority stake in a lithium mine in Australia to reduce some of its debt burden.

Indian data analytics firm Mu Sigma has closed its $95m refinancing loan after receiving commitments from three more banks during syndication.

The sustainable finance market clamoured for a Taxonomy to tell it what was green. Now it’s here, many are finding the answers constraining or simplistic. Alarmingly, the Taxonomy is also perpetuating the very thing it was supposed to root out — greenwashing.

The Loan Market Association has got its contractual ducks in a row as it prepares to launch a new platform to automate parts of the documentation process for loans and ancillary services, with the industry body looking to start the service early next year.