New LBO loan assets increase as a proportion of total PE buyout activity Private equity sponsors actively tapped the loan market in 2021 to back over US$196bn in buyout activity, the second highest total on record and just behind 2007’s historic totals north of US$200bn. More significantly, over US$126bn or 64% of total issuance represented…
Direct lending drives sponsored middle market issuance to new record Direct lending drove sponsored middle market loan issuance to new heights in 4Q21 and full-year 2021, as sponsors tapped the market at a blistering pace to fund LBOs and add-on acquisitions. Direct lending activity spiked to US$131bn in 2021, almost doubling 2020’s volume and topping…
U.S. M&A Volume by Segment Lenders cleared over US$619bn in US syndicated M&A loan volume in 2021 to mark the second highest annual total on record, just behind the US$648.5bn raised in 2018. The calendar was steady throughout both the first and second halves of the year with 2Q21 logging the second strongest quarterly results…
US leveraged loan returns advance to 5.2% in 2021, HY bonds gain 5.4% US leveraged loans wrapped up 2021 by posting a return of 0.78% in the fourth quarter, outpacing both high yield bonds (0.66%) and investment grade bonds (0.17%). In comparison, returns on the S&P500 accelerated to 10.7% in 4Q21, the highest all year….
Record US$1.8tr of US leveraged issuance clears market in 2021 In the absence of major market blips or deepening concerns around deteriorating credit quality, US leveraged lenders supported nearly US$1.8tr in loan and bond issuance in 2021, the highest total on record. The unabated presence of Covid-19 certainly impacted lender operations in so far as…
Middle market syndicated M&A volume reaches US$49.2bn year-to-date Middle market syndicated loan M&A volume has reached US$49.2bn year-to-date, surpassing the US$46.1bn and US$44.4bn posted in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The last three quarters have been particularly busy on the back of buoyant M&A activity, with loan volume climbing to US$14.5bn in the current quarter, far outpacing…
US leveraged loan and HY bond returns bounce back in December Leveraged loans posted their worst month of post-pandemic returns in November, at -0.16%, according to the S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan Index, while US high-yield bond returns slumped 1.02%, their second consecutive month of negative returns, according to the ICE BofA US HY Index…. Subscribe to
Total assets in BDCs climb to over US$180bn Total assets in BDCs climbed to over US$180bn in 3Q21, as publicly traded BDC assets increased to US$111bn, up from US$104bn in the prior quarter. In the same period, private/unlisted BDC assets grew to US$70bn from US$57bn. On the private side, Blackstone Private Credit Fund led the…
Including direct lending loans, 2021 US LBO volume is at an all-time high When including direct lending deals, US LBO loan volume has reached an all-time high this year. Year-to-date through November 22, there has been US$194bn in syndicated US LBO volume and US$34bn of middle market direct lending LBO volume (direct lending data as…
BDC portfolio loan coupons tighten significantly in 2021 The huge growth of fundraising in the direct lending market and the resulting need to put money to work has pressured loan coupons across market segments this year. The robust lender appetite has enabled borrowers to refinance more expensive debt while allowing sponsors to tap the market…