Loan buyout financings accelerate in 2Q21, with jumbo deals driving volume
Source: Debtwire Par
Leveraged loans backing buyouts nearly doubled in volume from the 1Q21 figure, landing at USD 62.3bn for the second quarter of 2021. This comes as welcome news for investors, as year-to-date issuance through June represents a 55% improvement over the year-ago figure and comes close to matching the full-year 2020 volume of USD 107.4bn after just six months.
Notably, 24% of loan buyout financings to-date have been concentrated in the USD 1bn-plus deal size category – the highest such proportion in recent years as jumbo deals return to the market following a year of heightened uncertainty as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic caused many companies to shelve plans to shop for suitors or divest units. Indeed, the share of loans sized USD 2 bn or greater has improved to 12.1% from just 4.8% last year.