LOANS EMEAFRANCE
ACCOR GOES SUSTAINABLEHotel 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.
4HEûlNANCINGûHASûAûMATURITYûOFûlVEûYEARSû
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.
".0û0ARIBASûWASûALSOûDOCUMENTATIONûANDû
sustainability agent.
COINTREAU AGREES €100m LOANWines and spirits company REMY COINTREAU
has agreed a €100m syndicated loan to
PARTIALLYûRElNANCEûITSûEXISTINGûõMû
syndicated loan on more attractive terms.
4HEûlNANCINGûHASûAûlVE
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 LOANReal 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: thecompany’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
!PRILûFROMû).'û&RANCEû4HEûTERMSûONûTHATû
LOANûAREûINDEXEDûONûTHEûCOMPANYSû'2%3"û
rating.Schuldschein market
set for rebound
EUROPE Scope Ratings says volumes could rise to €20bn in 2018The 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