Privately placed second-lien issuance picks up this quarter So far this quarter there is US5.2bn in completed and pipeline second-lien issuance, well below the US$8bn level it has reached the previous nine quarters. In addition, a greater share of second-lien issuance is getting privately placed…. Login to Read More...

BDC returns superior so far in 2019 If you were not buying BDC stocks in the dip in December, you are probably feeling remorse because BDC returns are quite stunning so far in 2019. After posting a dismal -6.6% return in 2018 and 0.1% in 2017, returns have gone sky high so far in 2019…

Global green loan volume nearly US$6bn one month into 2019 Barely five weeks into the new year, nearly US$6bn in green and ESG loan financings have worked their way through the global market. At first glance it may not seem impressive given the nearly US$9.5bn that was raised the same time last year, but green…

Flex activity in the US institutional loan market snaps back to favoring issuers again Flex activity in the US institutional loan market snapped back to being issuer friendly in January, after December heavily leaned towards investors. This allowed LPC’s Flex Factor’s median flex score to drop to a very issuer friendly score of -1.0 last…

Highly levered middle market issuers could struggle if rates continue to rise Throughout most of this credit cycle, the Libor benchmark rate has remained extremely low making it quite easy for issuers to meet interest payments. However over the past year, three-month libor has risen over 100bps to 2.75%. While the Fed has recently tempered…

Unitranche volume reached $7.5B in 4Q18 and $27B in 2018 LPC tracked US$7.5bn in unitranche facilities closed in 4Q18, down slightly from the US$8.9bn tracked in 3Q18, but still quite robust. For the 2018 year, LPC tracked US$27bn in unitranche facilities closed, 13% higher than 2017’s levels. As many direct lenders continued to amass scale…

Non-sponsored middle market lending increased to US$102bn but new money collapsed The non-sponsored market continued to tread along in 2018. Issuance was up for the second year in a row to US$102.3bn, but that was still far from 2014’s record and was driven by increased refi activity. Refinancing volume of US$81.3bn, was up 36% from…

 2018 US M&A loan volume sets new record at over US$648Bn At over US$648bn, US syndicated M&A loan volume set a new record in 2018, topping 2017’s high of US$537bn. The strong results were spread across market segments as corporate issuers looked to augment organic growth with strategic acquisitions and private equity sponsors aggressively looked…

Discounts widen as volatility hits the primary loan market Loan market sentiment has shifted dramatically this quarter as broader market volatility sent waves into the leveraged loan market. Concerns about global growth, trade wars, Brexit worries, and uncertainty over future interest rate hikes have cast a shadow on confidence and investors are a lot more…

Loan bids continue to decline amidst broader market volatility LPC’s most liquid 100 loans cohort traded down again yesterday to 96.15, its lowest level since March 2016. The volatility in the broader market has bled into the syndicated loans market. Loan investors have reacted by yanking roughly US$5.6bn from retail loan funds since the last…