French veterinary-health company Ceva Sante Animale is poised Friday to raise around €800 million ($1.1 billion) in a deal that could pave the way in Europe for an uptick in corporate loans that come with less protection for investors.

Covenant-lite loans have been making a comeback in Europe. They are so-called because they lack the usual terms and conditions lenders seek when handing cash to highly leveraged borrowers, such as limits on how much a company can owe relative to the value of its assets. Companies in the region have snagged almost $7 billion of such loans this year, roughly about a 10th of all European leveraged loans and the most at this point in the calendar since Dealogic started compiling records in 2006.