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…
Slow start for big deals Download PitchBook’s Report here. The US middle market only saw about $7 billion worth of deals valued in the $500M-$1B transaction range in Q1. That translated into 7% of total dollars invested in the middle market, a very small ratio by historical standards, according to PitchBook’s latest US Middle Market Report….
Distressed Debt Funds are on the Raise The private debt market is very crowded and, although direct lending funds represent the largest proportion, distressed debt funds have reached new records. There are currently 60 distressed debt funds in market looking to raise capital, seeking for a combined $72bn in capital…. Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a
Is distressed best for LPs? Fundraising targeting troubled companies is gathering pace, with surveys suggesting investors are keen to jump on board. “We estimate that about half a trillion dollars across credit segments are trading at distressed levels,” said Karim Cherif and Jay Lee of UBS Global Wealth Management in a report published in mid-June….
Add-ons appear healthy Download PitchBook’s Report here. At the outset of the quarantines, at least one market observer—yours truly—believed add-ons would hit the pause button after two torrid years of deal flow. The assumption: it was hard to imagine too many add-ons being done when existing portfolio companies had so many sudden issues of their own….
US CLO portfolios: average loan trades fell 7 to 13 points in March and April In the wake of the spread of COVID-19, as secondary loan prices plummeted, average US CLO portfolio trade prices fell between 7 and 13 points in March and April. By the end of April, sales prices were still declining, having…
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...
The Private Debt Market Remains Crowded The private debt market remains crowded amid COVID-19. As at 15th of June there are 485 funds in market seeking a combined $247bn. The number of funds in market is slightly up from the start of the year, but the amount targeted has increased a 22%. At the beginning…
Deals on the agenda as Germany picks up German-speaking markets are emerging from lockdown with strong appetite for finance. Europe was one of the first parts of the world to be hit by the covid-19 outbreak. But while many countries – such as the UK, Italy, Spain and France – were hit hard, others came…
Libor floors are back in the institutional market Investors are demanding Libor floors on institutional term loans as the Libor rate continues to drop. While 3-month Libor has been in a declining trend since 1Q19, it has plunged since the COVID-19 crisis hit. The average 3-month Libor rate has dropped to 0.67% so far this…