Aided by an increase in junior debt, total leverage on large corporate US LBO loans increases to 7x this quarter LBO activity in the US syndicated loan market remains robust this quarter. 3Q19 completed and in process LBO volume totals over US$23bn as new money deals continue to be a driver of leveraged lending. Meanwhile,…

PE sponsors ramp up delay draw term loans in the U.S. middle market Over the last few years, sponsors have been ramping up the amount of delay draw term loans within their middle market M&A transactions. In 2Q19, LPC tracked US$3.1bn in delay draw term loan volume within middle market sponsored finance which is the…

Deals with no LIBOR floor or 0% floor decline slightly in July Libor rates have been on the decline this year. As of July 24, the 3-month Libor rate was 2.27%, 54bp below its 2018 year-end level. So far in July, the average Libor rate is 2.3% down from 2.51% in 2Q19. And investors might…

2Q19 non-sponsored lending jumped to its highest quarterly level in a year After a very slow start to the year, non-sponsored lending soared in 2Q19. At US$26bn, non-sponsored syndicated loan volume was up 81% from 1Q19, but was still down 15% year-over-year. The quarter-over-quarter increase in lending was driven by a big surge in refinancings…

Syndicated MM sponsored lending volume reached $13.6bn in 2Q19 Syndicated middle market sponsored lending volume improved somewhat in the second quarter, but not nearly enough to match 2017-2018 levels. Issuance grew 10% quarter over quarter to US$13.61bn in 2Q19, but was still over 40% lower than 2Q18 levels. The lack of refinancing actvity was the…

1H19 Leveraged lending down 44% y-o-y; Leveraged loan volume off 53% Renewed focus on credit quality and increased market volatility combined gave rise to increased selectivity among leveraged loan investors, despite a lighter 2Q19 deals calendar. At US$255.35bn, 2Q19 total leveraged lending was up slightly compared to 1Q19 results but down 45% compared to the…

 LatAm lending increases for third quarter in a row Latin America syndicated loan issuance was at US$12.2bn in 2Q19 as of June 19. While this is down 30% from 2Q18 numbers, it is up 72% from 1Q19 levels. An additional US$16.5bn were in the pipeline, suggesting an active 3Q19…. Login to Read More...

US CLO distribution of defaulted loans by sector In May, the top sectors of defaulted loans held within active CLOs on a volume basis were Healthcare, Telecommunications and Technology. One-hundred and thirty-two CLOs currently hold defaulted Healthcare debt, 163 CLOs hold defaulted Telecom debt and 83 CLOs hold defaulted debt in Technology…. Login to Read

Loan mutual fund AUM continued to decline, ending May at US$137bn Loan retail outflows sent the AUM (market value) for loan mutual funds & ETFs lower to US$137.7bn as of the end of May, a decline of US$1.92bn or -1.4% month on month, and US$9.9bn or -7% since the beginning of the year.  Loan funds’…

What is the biggest challenge in the CLO market today? When asked to write in what they believe is the biggest issue or challenge facing the CLO market today, many respondents noted persistently high liabilities spreads. Only nine percent of CLO arrangers, managers and investors across the stack surveyed by LPC expect that triple-A spreads…