U.S Direct Lending: Purpose November 2020 Direct lending in November for buyouts surged to 47%, leveling the lopsided pull of add-on acquisitions that had dominated the pipeline since the pandemic hit, according to DLD. In fact, November generated the best share for LBO financing since February’s 61%. Add-on activity slipped slightly to 48% last month,…

Sun Life’s $338M acquisition of Crescent Capital underscores confidence in direct lending Sun Life Financial’s $338 million acquisition of Los Angeles-based Crescent Capital underscores investor confidence in direct lending, even as the Covid pandemic has upended global economies. Sun Life, a Toronto-based insurance company that has a small direct lending team within its $193 billion…

Third quarter finishes on high note; Lower middle market LBOs rally in Sept The second quarter’s heavy caution all but disappeared by last month in a swift reversal of deal flow. Uncertainty is onmnipresent, but investors have capital to deploy, financing has stabilized and after idling for six months, it’s risk on toward year end….

August amped up deal flow in lower middle market; Busy season ahead Lower middle market deal flow amped up in August, with volume exceeding July as lending found its footing amid calmer secondary prices and outflows. Quarter-to-date volume overtook 2Q weeks ago. Final numbers will be available in our upcoming Quarterly Report…. Subscribe to Read

Non Accruals rise, not spike; Lower middle market BDCs steady at 7.5% BDC non-accruals rose to an average of 5.3% at June 30, up from 4.9% at the end of March, based on a DLD analysis using Refinitiv’s BDC Collateral database. Last quarter’s increase hoisted the average above the historical range of 3% to 5%…

Lending began to rebuild in July, add-ons drove 60% share There’s no clear path forward yet, but lending began to slowly rebuild in July. The second quarter gave arrangers more time to evaluate portfolio company exposure to Covid-19, and while performance was down, it wasn’t as bad as many were expecting, based on DLD‘s conversations…

Ardonagh highlights viability for large unitranches It’s not a buyout, but Ardonagh Group’s record unitranche loan of £1.575 billion highlights the viability of jumbo ‘unis’ in a cautious direct lending market. Ares Management’s direct lending platform in Europe is lead arranger on the financing, while Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, HPS Investment Partners…

After outpacing M&A add-on activity for the past six months, LBOs fell in May, to a 28% share of direct lending loans, as tracked by DLD. Add-ons accounted for 62%, up from 37% in April. Opportunistic refinancings and dividend deals were absent altogether last month…. Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member? Log in here...

Non-Accruals across lower middle market portfolios rise to 7.5% Effects of the coronavirus lifted the average non-accrual rate across lower middle market BDC portfolios by 1.7%, to 7.5% in the first quarter. Out of $5.8 billion of outstanding first- and second-lien term loans, $436 million was on non-accrual across 42 borrowers, up from $331 million…

April volume retreats as expected, May forecast is weak Direct lending volume retreated in April, with transactions slipping to 43 from 67 in March, according to Direct Lending Deals. It was the slowest month for deal flow since DLD launched last September, and most of the mandates were underwritten pre-Covid…. Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a