Thyssenkrupp Elevator launches €4 billion high-yield bond issue

By Abhinav Ramnarayan

LONDON (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp Elevator has launched a widely anticipated high-yield bond to raise more than 4 billion euros (£3.6 billion) to help finance its own acquisition by a private equity consortium led by Cinven and Advent, a lead manager said on Wednesday.

The German company will issue several euro and U.S. dollar tranches, both secured and unsecured, of maturities between seven and eight years, the lead manager said.

A successful deal would help to seal one of the biggest leveraged buyouts by private equity firms in the past decade and boost a European high-yield bond market that has been severely disrupted by the COVID-19 crisis.

Sources told Reuters last week that the deal could be launched into a market boosted by unprecedented stimulus from the European Central Bank and the U.S. Federal Reserve, as well as the easing of lockdown measures in Europe.

The senior secured portion of the deal will be rated B1 and B+ from Moody's and Fitch, with the unsecured tranches given rated Caa1 and CCC+.

Barclays, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs are global coordinators and joint bookrunners along with Deutsche Bank, RBC and UBS, the lead manager said.

(Reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan; Editing by David Goodman)