The Blackstone Group and Lion Capital, the buyout backers of beverage company Orangina, refinanced €1.7bn ($2.3bn) of senior debt using a structure with looser loan requirements, despite so called "covenant lite" falling out of favour with investors.

The pair have negotiated partial covenant lite terms on the refinancing of Orangina's senior debt which began earlier this year. Covenant lites are a controversial financing technique for European buyouts which give no guarantee to warn investors when a company is sliding towards default.