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The Pulse of Private Equity - 8/17/2015

It’s become common knowledge (and maybe conventional wisdom) that PE buyers are much more disciplined today than they were in 2007. One useful comparison is the amount of PE capital spent versus the amount raised. Going back to 2011, note the correlation between the two totals and how little they deviate from one another. This suggests…

Leveraged Loan Insight & Analysis - 8/17/2015

There is no shortage of yield hungry investors in the middle market however second lien volume for smaller issuers has not kept pace with demand in 2015. Year to date, middle market second lien volume has only reached $1.6 billion, which is over 70% lower than the $5.6 billion logged… Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a

Markit Recap – 8/10/2015

Back in 2010, Brazil’s finance minister Guido Mantega warned that the world was in the midst of a “currency war” in the wake of US quantitative easing. The term is now back in vogue after China made the shock decision to devalue its currency. China has a “dirty” peg against the US dollar, and the…

The Pulse of Private Equity - 8/10/2015

Do holding periods go down from here? For the first time since the crisis, the median holding period for private equity is heading downward. For all exits, the H1 median came in at 5.25 years, a sharp fall from the 6.12 median at year end. Companies that were… Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member? Log

Leveraged Loan Insight & Analysis - 8/10/2015

The majority of banks surveyed reported little change in the last three months with only 13 percent of domestic banks reporting easing terms to larger firms, according to the latest Federal Reserve Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey. This is up slightly from 10 percent at this time… Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member? Log in here...

Markit Recap – 8/3/2015

Spain is often held up as an example of how austerity works, and Markit data published on August 5 provides some support to this view. Markit PMIs for August showed that Spain was leading the way in the eurozone’s economic expansion. There are major questions over the country’s labour market – unemployment remains at stratospheric…

The Pulse of Private Equity - 8/3/2015

Another big year in the works The U.S. middle market is heading toward another big year. Through H1, 895 deals worth a combined $159 billion have closed, not far off the pace of last year’s records. This despite another jump in median purchase price multiples, which hit 10.5x through the end of June. Valuations have risen… Subscribe

Leveraged Loan Insight & Analysis - 8/3/2015

After a temperate first half, buyout deals to hit market in 3Q15 are pushing the boundaries with regards to leverage levels. Although deal flow remains light, large corporate LBO leverage levels have risen to 6.3 times so far in 3Q15, up from 6.01 and 5.99 times respectively in 2Q15 and 1Q15. The upward trend is driven by…

Markit Recap – 7/27/2015

Commodities strain Latam corporate credit The recent commodity downturn has sent Latam corporate bond yields surging, just as the US looks set to raise interest rates. Brazil’s 5-yr CDS spread has widened 31bps over the past week as commodity slump hits Latam corporate bond yields have diverged from their emerging… Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a

The Pulse of Private Equity - 7/27/2015

Take-privates making a comeback? One of the big differences between today’s M&A boom and 2007’s comes down to which buyers were involved. Almost a decade ago, PE firms were the muscle behind M&A. Mega-buyouts in the $10B+ category were common, inflating overall deal activity to record levels. Today’s market is… Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a