IFR - 07.07.2018

LOANS EMEA

FRANCE

ACCOR GOES SUSTAINABLE

Hotel operator ACCORHOTELS has signed a
€1.2bn revolving credit facility with a margin
linked to the company’s environmental,
social and governance performance.
The facility replaces AccorHotel’s undrawn
€1.8bn RCF that was originally agreed in June
2014 and was reduced to €1.2bn after the
spinoff of its real estate ownership and
property business AccorInvest.
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WITHûTWOûONE
YEARûEXTENSIONûOPTIONS
AccorHotels’ sustainability performance
has been assessed by Sustainalytics, a
provider of ESG research and ratings, and
the resulting score will be used as the
benchmark against which performance
improvements will be assessed.
4HEûlNANCINGûISûPARTûOFû!CCOR(OTELSû
Planet 21 programme, which was launched
INûûTOûACHIEVEû%3'ûTARGETSûBASEDûONûSIXû
strategic priorities: work with its
employees, the involvement of its
customers, offering guests healthy and
sustainable food, innovation with its
partners, favouring carbon-neutral
buildings and work with local communities.
BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, MUFG and
UniCredit COORDINATEDûTHEûlNANCINGûALONGû
with Banco Santander, Bank of America Merrill
Lynch, Barclays, Citibank, Credit Agricole CIB,
Commerzbank, CM-CIC, HSBC, ING, Natixis and
NatWest as mandated lead arrangers.
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sustainability agent.

COINTREAU AGREES €100m LOAN

Wines and spirits company REMY COINTREAU
has agreed a €100m syndicated loan to
PARTIALLYûRElNANCEûITSûEXISTINGûõMû
syndicated loan on more attractive terms.
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YEARûMATURITYû
WITHûTWOûONE
YEARûEXTENSIONûOPTIONS
Margins range from 35bp to 125bp over
Euribor, depending on the level of debt. The
EXISTINGûFACILITYûPAYSûBPûOVERû%URIBOR
Natixis COORDINATEDûTHEûlNANCINGûWITHû
Credit Agricole CIB, Societe Generale, HSBC, CIC
and BNP Paribas participating.
4HEûEXISTINGûFACILITYûWASûAMENDEDûANDû
EXTENDEDûINû!PRILû ûPUSHINGûTHEûMATURITYû
out to April 2019 and cutting pricing. Societe
'ENERALEûCOORDINATEDûTHEûAMENDûANDûEXTEND
4HEûlNANCINGûWASûORIGINALLYûARRANGEDûINû
June 2012 via bookrunners and mandated
LEADûARRANGERSû".0û0ARIBAS û"ANKûOFû!MERICAû
Merrill Lynch, BECM, Credit Agricole CIB,
(3"# û.ATIXISûANDû3OCIETEû'ENERALE
Cointreau is rated BB+ by S&P and Baa3 by
Moody’s.

GECINA NETS CSR-LINKED LOAN

Real estate investment trust GECINA has

agreed a €100m 7.5-year loan with Credit

Agricole CIB with terms linked to the

company’s corporate social responsibility

performance.

Gecina’s CSR performance will be

measured each year on three criteria: the

company’s Global Real Estate Sustainability

Benchmark rating; energy transition and

carbon footprint; and workplace wellness

and occupant productivity.

The loan is Gecina’s second sustainability-

linked loan after it agreed a €150m loan in

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rating.

Schuldschein market

set for rebound

„ EUROPE Scope Ratings says volumes could rise to €20bn in 2018

The corporate Schuldscheindarlehen market

recovered in the second quarter, buoyed by a

tighter focus on credit quality and the emergence

of new digital platforms, according to a report

from Germany-based Scope Ratings.

Issuance of over €8bn from at least 50 deals

in the first half of the year is still 30% down

on the same period last year, but a wave of 25

mostly small-ticket transactions is in the pipeline

and set to close before the summer break.

This acceleration of issuance could see

volumes rise to a respectable €20bn in 2018,

although that is down from the record €28.9bn

in 2017.

“Activity is buoyant, but we’ll need to see some

big-ticket transactions above €500m for the

market to significantly exceed €20bn this year,”

Scope analyst Sebastian Zank said.

The collapse of UK construction contractor

CARILLION and accounting irregularities at South

African retailer STEINHOFF INTERNATIONAL raised

questions over transparency and credit quality in

the SSD market and hurt investor demand in the

first quarter.

Since then investors and arrangers have taken

a more disciplined approach leading to investor

push bank on recent SSDs for O2 TELEFONICA

DEUTSCHLAND, VOLKSWAGEN IMMOBILIEN and JOST

WERKe that saw adjusted terms and increased

pricing.

The renewed focus on credit quality has

helped highlight the SSD market’s investment-

grade credentials.

Despite a prevalence of SSD issues from small

and medium-sized enterprises, which would be

expected to command a higher risk premiums,

first-half SSD median spreads of 100bp on five-

year money correspond to public bond issues for

BBB-/BBB investment-grade corporates.

“It’s true, low spreads reflect the

predominance of solidly financed German firms

placing Schuldschein debt, but our data shows

that issuer leverage is increasingly concentrated

below a 3.0 times net-debt-to-Ebitda multiple in

the year before debt is placed,” Zank said.

There were also fewer highly leveraged

companies issuing SSD than in the first half of

2017.

DIGITAL GROWTH

The recent emergence of digital platforms

such as credX, vc trade, Debtvision, Synd-X and

FinnestPro to arrange SSDs has helped keep

costs down and made small deals much cheaper

to execute. This could encourage more SMEs

to the market for deals of €50m and below, the

report said.

“Fintech platforms have the potential to make

a long-term difference, attracting new issuers

and widening the SSD investor base,” Zank said.

A wider number of investors, particularly

from outside Europe, could also participate in

the market by subscribing to the new platforms,

giving SME borrowers access to funding outside

markets where they are well known.

However, investors would need to become

even more diligent in their credit analysis where

less well-known issuers decide to place debt on

their own via a digital platform.

Although issuance from non-German issuers

is low, making up around 30% of market volume

in the first half, a number of Nordic issuers have

tapped the market, which could mark the start of

a longer-term trend.

Debut deals were seen for Finnish industry

and trade conglomerate WIHURI, which placed

a €75m SSD in April via LBBW; DANISH AGRO,

which placed €100m in June via Danske Bank

and UniCredit; and food company DANISH CROWN

also issued.

More Nordic deals are in the pipeline for the

third quarter including another placement for

NAC AVIATION and a debut issue from Finnish

shipbuilder MEYER TURKU, the report said.

Nordic banks SEB, Danske Bank and Nordea

have also emerged as SSD arrangers, while the

Nordic region offers a wide range of companies

with credit profiles suited to SSD issuance, Scope

said.

Alasdair Reilly