Loan covenants reinvent Asian high yield

Rachel Evans | NEWS ANALYSIS - February 09, 2010


High yield bonds in Asia are getting a makeover with extra covenants more typical to loans, as Chandra Asri’s $230 million bond has shown

High yield bonds in Asia are getting a makeover with extra covenants more typical to loans. As Chandra Asri’s $230 million bond last week showed, investors want credit enhancement and won’t buy unless they get it.

Chandra Asri approached the market twice in 2009 but decided to rethink the structure of its five-year note after a frosty reception from potential investors. As well as standard debt-incurrence covenants, Chandra Asri added maintenance-style covenants to the documents, and amortisation.

“This is a tough time for issuers of high yield bonds,” said Alex Lloyd of Clifford Chance. “There’s demand from investors but it’s cautious demand so companies that want to get the deal away need to find...




"The culture is not to disclose. And that’s partly driven by the rules"

The SFC's Martin Wheatley on the problem of disclosure in Hong Kong

Web seminars

US and EU hybrid capital
February 3 2010
The future of hybrids, in a popular discussion between IFLR, Morrison & Foerster and Calyon

Latest Issue

March 2010

Basel III: The revenge of Basel
New Basel rules are affecting everyone differently. In the UK banks are worried about grandfathering, in Germany the headache is hybrids and in the US it's risk structures. Meanwhile Japan has some tips and Hong Kong structured its first hybrid [more]