When it comes to the Italian banks, pessimists are not in short supply. Indeed, to be bullish on this sector could be considered contrarian, or even foolhardy, given its parlous state. Asset quality is the overriding problem – Italy’s banks have €360bn of non-performing loans on their balance sheet, about a third of the eurozone’s…
Debtor-in-possession loan volume reached US$1.6bn in 1Q16 across 5 deals. That number already surpassed 2015’s entire total of US$930m across 4 deals. And there is more to come. Peabody Energy announced it had secured an US$800m DIP financing from creditors as it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The deal includes a US$500m term loan and US$100m…
98% of U.S. PE Funds Closed in Q1 Either Hit or Exceeded Target In the first quarter of 2016, 71 U.S. PE funds closed on a total of $51.8 billion in capital commitments. Of those 71 vehicles, no less than 98% either hit or exceeded their target. This proportion is unprecedented, even by the standards…
Investors embrace long dated corporate bonds Investors have been loading up on relatively higher yielding long term corporate bonds, in spite of the asset class seeing its average credit rating decline in recent years. Long dated corporate bond ETFs have seen $90m of inflows ytd, over twice the 2015 total BBB bonds make up 47%…
The Bigger, the Better: Private Equity Funds Still Trending Upward in Size Although there is a fair amount of quarterly variance in median private equity fund sizes, there has been a distinct trend upward since the end of 2013, with the closing quarter of 2015 cresting at just over $300 million across all PE fund…
U.S. leveraged lending, at US$112bn in 1Q16, was down 29% from 4Q15 Instability in oil prices and credit concerns in energy and metals and mining, coupled with worries that slowing global growth could impact the U.S., amplified what was already shaky sentiment heading into this year. Although seeing opportunities, some distressed funds waited to pull…
Returns on US dollar denominated emerging market (EM) bonds have outstripped developed nation peers so far this year, as confidence in the region has returned after market volatility in late 2015. Since January 2016, dollar denominated EM sovereigns and corporates have returned 4.3% and 3.2% respectively, according to Markit’s iBoxx indices. The returns surpass those of…
1Q16 US Syndicated loan volume tumbles 19% y-o-y; Down a more substantial 37% q-o-q US syndicated loan volume took a tumble in 1Q16 to log just over $310 billion, down 19% compared to year ago levels and a more substantial 37% drop over 4Q15 totals. Surprisingly, the decline was most notable among investment grade issuers who…
As Investment Activity Slows, Competition for Quality Remains Fierce As March winds down, the first quarter of 2016 currently has seen around 700 private equity deals close in the U.S. Taking the total as 700, that completed deal count represents a drop of nearly 29% from the tally of 4Q 2015, which itself saw the…
Valeant Pharmaceuticals, the most widely held name in U.S. CLOs, announced last week it was cutting its revenue forecast and that a delay in filing its annual report put the company at risk of defaulting on its debt. In response, Valeant’s shares plunged by more than 50%. The company’s loans ended Tuesday with a weighted…