Unitranche minimum spread threshold shifts higher While volatility led to a significant increase in pricing in the broadly syndicated institutional loan market early in the year, it took longer to have an effect in the direct lending space. For unitranches, the average blended spread in 2Q22 was flat relative to 1Q22 at 596bp. However, direct…
BDC share price-to-book value remains above recent lows BDC share price-to-book values have bounced around recently, impacted by shifting investor sentiment. The average share price-to-book value is at 0.91x as of September 9, down from 0.95x in mid-August but is still up from a recent low of 0.80x in June. There are wide variations in…
US$7.6bn of new issue US CLOs priced in August US CLO new issue volume was US$7.6bn in August, down from US$11.5bn in July and down from US$19.2bn priced in August last year. Although the pace of new CLO formation slowed, total volume so far in 2022 is US$92.57bn, just 18% behind issuance over the same…
Blackstone Private Credit Fund continues to grow Perpetual-life BDCs continue to pull in money, with these funds accounting for the majority of recent growth in the BDC space. In addition to enticing investors with attractive yields like all BDCs, perpetual-life BDCs continually offer new shares monthly and provide investors with quarterly liquidity through a share…
BDC loan valuations shift lower in recent filings The fair value of BDC debt investments declined in 2Q22, driven by credit spread widening across the broader markets as volatility spiked against a backdrop of inflationary pressures and recession fears. Looking at the cohort of 56 BDCs that have posted earnings as of August 10, the…
The healthcare sector led sponsored MM lending in 1H22 Overall sponsored middle market lending activity (comprised of both direct lending and syndicated volume) was robust again in 2Q22, climbing 42% to US$44bn. The healthcare, business services and technology sectors remained in the top 3 spots in the most recent quarter, cementing their lead in the…
Middle market unitranche leverage declines in 2Q22 Leverage on middle market unitranche loans tightened to 5.57x in 2Q22, its lowest level since 3Q20, as it continued to retreat from the record highs seen in 2021. From a pricing perspective, blended spreads were flat for middle market unitranches, averaging 600bp in the most recent quarter…. Subscribe
Unitranche minimum spread threshold shifts up One of the main themes of the loan market in 2Q22 was the disconnect between the broadly syndicated loan market and the direct lending market. Increased volatility and recession fears hit the institutional loan market and investors pushed back, resulting in much higher pricing. In the direct lending market,…
Syndicated middle market loan volume climbs in 2Q22 but lags year-ago period Syndicated middle market issuance picked up in 2Q22 despite increased market volatility in May and June. Middle market lending climbed to US$48bn in 2Q22 from US$33bn in 1Q22 but was below the US$58bn posted in the same quarter last year. On a year-to-date…
1H22 Leveraged volume down 31%; HY bonds off 75%, institutional loans down 61% The US leveraged market dramatically slowed in 2Q22, completing just over US$292bn of loan and high yield bond volume to bring totals for the first half of the year to less than US$480bn, down 31% year over year. The lack of macro…