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OQ Chemicals Loans Recover to Low 90s as Hedge Funds Take Footholds, Speculation Mounts Over Advent Interest; Ad Hoc Group Formed

Reporting: Robert Schach, Farooq Baloch German oxo intermediates and oxo performance chemicals producer OQ Chemicals’ term loans have rallied back into the low 90s after three hedge funds, including Strategic Value Partners, or SVP, started buying into the debt, sources said. The loans had dived around 20 points to the mid 70s after parent OQ Group decided to walk away midway through the company’s attempt to secure an A&E and withdraw its previous and new money commitments. Only around €15 million of the loans have traded so far, mainly through a €14.6 million BWIC run by Deutsche Bank, which means the funds have only managed to get initial footholds in the group’s debt, the sources said. The loans are currently bid only in a 91-95 context, one source said. The loans have also been buoyed by rumors that former sponsor Advent International, which originally sold OQ Chemicals (then called Oxea) to OQ Group in 2013, is considering making a bid for the company. In addition to being familiar with the asset, Advent is also dependent on OQ Chemicals through its portfolio company Roehm, which is in the process of building a new large-scale methyl methacrylate, or MMA, plant in Bay[...]