AT&T legal ruling bodes well for M&A deals; Loan market backs over US$200bn in 2Q18

LSEG (1)
Content hub / Article / LSEG / AT&T legal ruling bodes well for M&A deals; Loan market backs over US$200bn in 2Q18

The debt capital markets are feeling good about M&A and more specifically, the unabated surge in large transformative acquisition deals. Total M&A transactional volume so far is up 39% year over year through June 11 and the highest level since the same time period in 2007. And with the announcement of KKR’s US$9.9bn takeover of Envision on June 13th following on the heels of the court ruling in favor of AT&T’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner, market participants believe there is more to come. Against this backdrop, the US loan market has completed nearly US$160bn in M&A lending so far this quarter. Another US$45bn is currently in process. Non-leveraged issuance represents roughly US$74bn or 47% of total completed M&A loan volume while leveraged corporate M&A loan volume at nearly US$62bn, represents just under 40%. Completed LBO volume is about US$23bn.

Contact: Maria Dikeos
maria.dikeos@thomsonreuters.com

Contact Maria Dikeos
2026 Private Credit Investor Survey

Share your perspective

2026 Private Credit Investor Survey

Institutional investors, RIAs and financial advisors - we want to hear from you. Take this two-minute anonymous survey and receive the results report.
Take the survey
US Private Credit League Tables 9M'26

Report

US Private Credit League Tables 9M'26

The definitive rankings covering private credit activity in 9M'26.
Download
LSEG LPC's Large Corporate Leveraged & Middle Market Loans Conference

NYC | October 29, 2026

LSEG LPC's Large Corporate Leveraged & Middle Market Loans Conference

Join 250 delegates for a full day of insightful discussions on the most pressing issues facing the loan market.
Learn more
PitchBook's H1 2026 Global Private Debt Report

Report

PitchBook's H1 2026 Global Private Debt Report

Strong fundamentals, but uncertainty remains.
Download

Latest news

    US leveraged loans returns turn negative in October

    The Bloomberg US Leveraged Loan Index (Ticker: LOAN) has returned -0.26% this month through October 21, reducing its year-to-date return…

    Read More

    M&A activity begins to tick upward

    In the third quarter of 2026, acquisition-linked loan volume across North America and Europe reached about $47 billion, up from $30.6 billion in Q2 and $29.5 billion a year ago.

    Read More

    High-Yield Bond Statistics

    Read More