Ardonagh highlights viability for large unitranches It’s not a buyout, but Ardonagh Group’s record unitranche loan of £1.575 billion highlights the viability of jumbo ‘unis’ in a cautious direct lending market. Ares Management’s direct lending platform in Europe is lead arranger on the financing, while Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, HPS Investment Partners…

After outpacing M&A add-on activity for the past six months, LBOs fell in May, to a 28% share of direct lending loans, as tracked by DLD. Add-ons accounted for 62%, up from 37% in April. Opportunistic refinancings and dividend deals were absent altogether last month…. Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member? Log in here...

Non-Accruals across lower middle market portfolios rise to 7.5% Effects of the coronavirus lifted the average non-accrual rate across lower middle market BDC portfolios by 1.7%, to 7.5% in the first quarter. Out of $5.8 billion of outstanding first- and second-lien term loans, $436 million was on non-accrual across 42 borrowers, up from $331 million…

April volume retreats as expected, May forecast is weak Direct lending volume retreated in April, with transactions slipping to 43 from 67 in March, according to Direct Lending Deals. It was the slowest month for deal flow since DLD launched last September, and most of the mandates were underwritten pre-Covid…. Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a

Price points emerge in 10% to 11% range for jumbo direct lending loans Two jumbo direct lending deals surfaced this week— Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Airbnb —as the first comps to guide new issue underwriting since the Covid-19 pandemic shut credit markets a month ago. Alnylam obtained a $750 million 1L term loan at L+700, while…

Monthly LBO lending decelerates, yet 1Q20 finishes strong; Outlook bleak LBOs decelerated in March, to 47% of monthly U.S. direct lending volume, according to Direct Lending Deals. The drop was from 63% in February, the biggest month for LBO volume since DLD started tracking transactions in mid-September last year…. Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member?

February new issues soften; March is a guessing game February’s tally of direct lending loans softened to 57, from 73 in January, according to Direct Lending Deals. The decreased flow was mainly due to slower-than-expected M&A — all deals were baked before coronavirus fears torpedoed markets last week. Add-on M&A activity declined to 28% from…

DL Deals: ACProducts Deep Dive KKR Capital Markets used hard call premiums starting at 103 on ACProducts, a B/B2 credit that had more of a hybrid distribution strategy this month, to protect the attractive L+650 spread from being taken out quickly via repricing. The move is reminiscent of Qlik Technologies in 2016, however today’s repricing…