2Q18 US M&A loan volume sets quarterly record; 1H18 total also at historical high The US market cleared almost US$194bn in acquisition loan financing in 2Q18 via a series of jumbo deals, to set a new quarterly record. In turn, 1H18 M&A volume at US$363.5bn marked a record high for any half year period. At…
It’s not uncommon for a firm to have an association with an adjective. The description is often derogatory; for example, acquisitive companies are often said to be rapacious. For Glencore, the commonly used adjective is “secretive”. This is no doubt due to the deliberately low profile of its CEO, Ivan Glasenberg, as well as its…
What goes up… 2017 was one heck of a fundraising year that saw stratospheric amounts of capital raised. 2018 will be a regular one. PDI private credit fundraising numbers for the first six months of the year fell by nearly half compared to the same time last year, plummeting from $111.96 billion to $59.81 billion,…
Investors Flock to US Lower-Middle-Market Private Debt A Preqin/NXT Capital survey of 78 institutional investors investing in private debt found that 45% believe that the private debt market is at a peak and that assets are overvalued, leading investors to believe that the coming months will see a correction. In response, investors are looking increasingly…
Credit Events often make the headlines in the CDS market, for good or ill. But the ISDA Determinations Committee also make other decisions, most often on Succession Events. These are typically straightforward determinations resulting from corporate actions such as mergers and acquisitions. In short, they are part and parcel of a CDS market that in…
Unitranche spreads continue to decline amid intense competiton in the middle market Even though the leveraged loan market has seen some modest investor pushback on pricing and terms due to a voluminous supply market, the middle market remains insulated and heated. Lenders indicate no pushback is evident on smaller deals as the middle market remains…
Distressed Europe Overall fundraising for private debt in Europe has taken a plunge in 2018, but distressed strategies are bucking the trend. With only just less than $11 billion raised for private debt investment in Europe so far this year (at the time of publication), fundraising activity in the region is a far cry from…
Are small funds losing ground? Download PitchBook’s report here. Another quarter, another round of outperformance for large funds. Rolling one-year horizon IRRs have been consistent of late when broken down by fund size, and $1B+ PE funds once again bested their smaller peers in recent returns. Much of that recent outperformance might be traced back…
North America-Focused Mezzanine Fundraising: Off to a Strong Start As at May 2018, seven North America-focused mezzanine funds have held a final close, securing a total $4.1bn in capital. These fundraising levels put 2018 on path to exceed 2017 activity: in 2017, 17 North America-focused mezzanine funds closed and raised an aggregate $5.2bn. This represented…
Is PE performance persistent? Download PitchBook’s Report click here. “Past performance does not guarantee future results.” Finance professionals have probably read that boilerplate disclosure so many times they may not even notice it anymore. And while that phrase has arguably reached truism status, there is a residual belief that past performance is relevant to future…