Loans and High Yield

Canpack, a Poland-based packaging company, made its debut in the euro and dollar high yield market this week, shaking off the constraints of its private placement-based capital structure and preparing for expansion in the US.

International Personal Finance, a UK-listed doorstep lender, asked bondholders to ease covenant limits as part of a package of measures to push out its maturities and manage the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on its funding.

The bond piece of Rolls Royce’s £5bn Covid-19 rescue plan was a storming success this week. The issue doubled in size on the back of a combined book of £14bn, showing the firm still has excellent access to private sector liquidity — a strong message as Rolls turns to shareholders for a £2bn rights issue.

SMC Global Power Holdings Corp was one of the few Asian issuers outside of China to turn to the dollar market this week. The Philippine borrower attracted ample investor support, allowing it to raise more money than it had first planned.

Ripple, the US cryptocurrency company, has launched a line of credit available to some of its customers, as corporate financers say that blockchain technology will likely continue to create new services associated with traditional banking.

Four bond issuers from Greater China followed the Chinese ministry of finance into the dollar market on Wednesday, snapping up $1.4bn between them.

Barclays and Citi have begun syndication of the loan backing Adevinta’s purchase of eBay Classifieds, one of the largest EMEA M&A deals agreed this summer. The banks are marketing €1.33bn of term loans, with a bond deal to follow shortly.

Barclays has hired Gauthier Le Milon as head of M&A for France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

The coronavirus crisis will continue to lead to divergence in economic fortunes, and that will play out in European capital markets as well.

Pre-pandemic, mid-market private equity firm CapVest was gearing up to sell its portfolio company Curium, in a €3bn auction which attracted interest from CVC, Bain and Nordic Capital. Covid collapsed the sale process, prompting a plan B for the asset — sell it to themselves.

For CMA CGM, a French shipping company, the pandemic came in the nick of time. The group was struggling with debt maturities and dwindling liquidity in late 2019, but abundant state aid funding has allowed it to shore up its balance sheet return to market this week to refinance its 2021s.

JSW Steel sold a $500m bond on Monday, but the issuer paid some 30bp of premium to close the trade.