Earlier this month, Fitch Ratings put GLP on its watch list, warning that a lack of progress on debt reduction could push the company to high-yield status.
Major Asian logistics operator GLP Pte was for years sought after by investors, both when it first went public over a decade ago and then when the company was for sale. But sentiment has darkened more recently, with its investment-grade dollar bonds the worst performers in Asia this year and the firm at risk of being downgraded to junk territory.
GLP, a Singapore-incorporated company with significant businesses in China, was acquired about five years ago in what was Asia’s largest buyout at the time. Starting from last year, though, slumping earnings, rising debt levels and corporate-governance concerns pushed the firm’s dollar bonds to distressed levels. Some hit record lows last week at under 35 cents.
