TheLeadLeft

On Demand

We don’t know anyone who’s seen the latest Godzilla movie, yet it’s grossed more than $375 million worldwide. On the other hand, the clearly-destined-to-be-a-cult-classic Vampire Academy has barely scraped in $15 million. Life, we suppose, is unfair. While not as profound on the scale of life’s mysteries, we have also cogitated on the ongoing spectacle…

Last of the Dinosaurs

It was the finale of the longest, slow-motion credit tumble ever witnessed, and certainly the most anticipated spectator event since the long-awaited Family Guy movie. On April 29, Energy Future Holdings filed for bankruptcy creating the largest default – $19.5 billion – in the history of leveraged loans. Creditors have been jostling for position for many months, a dance…

CHART OF THE WEEK

Oh, That Default The long-awaited default of Energy Future Holding’s$19.5 billion in loans, while pushing April’s figure by volume to 4.6% – a four-year high – is not expected to signal any change in analysts’ positive loan performance outlook.                … Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member? Log in here...

MARKIT RECAP

It’s been a while since the eurozone’s periphery had any meaningful impact on broader market sentiment. Mario Draghi’s “whatever it takes” pronouncement in 2012 put paid to the regular bouts of volatility emanating from Europe’s beleaguered sovereigns…. Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member? Log in here...

Leveraged Loan Insight & Analysis

The middle market yield premium on first-lien institutional term loans has dropped to just 66bp this quarter; its lowest level since 3Q09. The large corporate market has seen demand and supply re-balancing as more new money deals come to market while at the same time retail inflows reversed for a few weeks.  As a result, at…

THE PULSE OF PRIVATE EQUITY

Last week we discussed the increase in valuations seen over the last 12 to 18 months in the middle-middle market, one of the drivers that we cited was the increase in competition and amount of capital chasing these deals. Today’s PitchBook chart shows that U.S. PE funds targeting middle-market deals currently have $305 billion of…

Lead Left Interview -  Justin Kaplan

This week we speak with Justin Kaplan, Partner, Balance Point Capital Partners, a lower-middle market investment firm with offices in Westport, CT and Hartford, CT. The Lead Left: Justin, many of us know you from your days at the Alcentra mezzanine fund, but tell us about what you’re doing at Balance Point. Justin Kaplan: I joined the…