Pricing widened on a €1.7bn-equivalent covenant-lite debt financing backing the buyout of Luxembourg-based ink and pigment firm flint, which has been hit by a softening US market. Pricing on the dual-currency first- and second-lien loans widened by 25bp. Syndication of the euro portion was going well, but the US portion struggled due to a large number of leveraged deals in the US and a softening secondary loan market. "The euro portion of Flint would probably have got done at the original guidance. A euro tranche used to have a 25bp premium. Investors may be OK with being paid the same on the euro as the dollar, but they would never accept the dollar pricing wider," the banker said.
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