TheLeadLeft

The Pulse of Private Equity - 8/3/2015

Another big year in the works The U.S. middle market is heading toward another big year. Through H1, 895 deals worth a combined $159 billion have closed, not far off the pace of last year’s records. This despite another jump in median purchase price multiples, which hit 10.5x through the end of June. Valuations have risen… Subscribe

Leveraged Loan Insight & Analysis - 8/3/2015

After a temperate first half, buyout deals to hit market in 3Q15 are pushing the boundaries with regards to leverage levels. Although deal flow remains light, large corporate LBO leverage levels have risen to 6.3 times so far in 3Q15, up from 6.01 and 5.99 times respectively in 2Q15 and 1Q15. The upward trend is driven by…

Lead Left Interview - Tom Lesch (Part 2)

This week we continue our conversation with Tom Lesch, Director, Livingstone. Livingstone is a global M&A and debt advisory firm with six international offices including Chicago. Its core industry sectors include Business Services, Consumer, Healthcare, Industrial and Media & Technology. Second of two parts – View part one The Lead Left: Last year we saw how the…

Markit Recap – 7/27/2015

Commodities strain Latam corporate credit The recent commodity downturn has sent Latam corporate bond yields surging, just as the US looks set to raise interest rates. Brazil’s 5-yr CDS spread has widened 31bps over the past week as commodity slump hits Latam corporate bond yields have diverged from their emerging… Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a

More on Dividends

Last week we covered dividend recapitalizations on sponsored leverage loans. Turns out the topic required more air time, based on the feedback we received from readers. One of the top investment bankers in the middle market reflected on the differences lenders perceive among recaps opportunities. “A primary consideration is the vintage of the fund for…

Chart of the Week - Buy-outs vs. Cash-outs

Despite their reputation as riskier loans, dividends to sponsors have a 20-year history of lower defaults than the original buyout financings. Leveraged Loan Defaults by Purpose (1995-2014) Source: S&P Capital IQ

The Pulse of Private Equity - 7/27/2015

Take-privates making a comeback? One of the big differences between today’s M&A boom and 2007’s comes down to which buyers were involved. Almost a decade ago, PE firms were the muscle behind M&A. Mega-buyouts in the $10B+ category were common, inflating overall deal activity to record levels. Today’s market is… Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a