Retailers expected to file Chapter 11 in the coming weeks as loan bids drop between 46%-66% this year The retail sector, hit hard by the coronavirus economic shutdown, has seen a flurry Chapter 11-related activity in the last several weeks. Last week, 24 Hour Fitness hired a restructuring advisor, while JC Penny, forced to close…
COVID-19 hits unitranche issuance in 1Q20 After growing for three straight quarters and hitting an all time record high in 4Q19, unitranche volume took a steep hit in 1Q20. Total U.S. unitranche issuance fell to US$11.5bn in 1Q20, down 35% from 4Q19’s record high of US$17.5bn. The “mega tranche” trend that exploded in 4Q19 at…
1Q20 MM non-sponsored syndicated loan issuance mirrored 1Q19’s dire levels At US$16bn, 1Q20 non-sponsored issuance was down 25% from 4Q19 and was on par with 1Q19, which was the slowest 1Q since 1Q10. After a slow start in January, issuance picked up in February and was flat in March. According to bankers that focus on…
New money lending for MM sponsored deals drops for third quarter New money lending in the syndicated loan market backing middle market sponsored deals fell for the third consecutive quarter in 1Q20. Issuance only reached US$7.6bn, down 15% from 4Q19 levels and down 13% year-over-year. New deal momentum was off to a slow start in…
Hopes for building 2020 loan mart are shortlived as Covid-19 spreads Several headlines have rattled the markets over the last few years – some were fuelled by geopolitical unrest, some by enonomic bumps and occasionally tweets – but the impact on the markets themselves was consistently shortlived. It ultimately took a deadly and aggressively spreading…
BDC share prices rally after plummeting to below 0.4x book value earlier in week BDC share prices rallied on Thursday following the coronavirus relief bill cleared by the U.S. Senate. At the start of the week, BDCs were brought back to their darkest days of The Great Financial crisis with average BDC share price-to-book value…
CRC and Chesapeake TLs lead largest losers in falling oil and gas loan prices As oil and gas companies try to weather these tumultuous times, some investors are worried that reduced revenue may push some oil and gas issuers to default on their corporate debt. This concern has been pushing oil and gas loan prices…
Unitranche in price discovery mode, likely moving back over 600bp Amid falling Libor and more volatile pricing conditions in the syndicated market, unitranche pricing is moving higher after hitting rock bottom levels in 4Q19. So far in 1Q20, the average blended spread on a unitranche is 590bp, up from a low of 578bp in 4Q19….
As deals get pulled from the market, US institutional loan pipeline sinks under US$14bn Behind a weakening primary loan market impacted by fears of the spread of coronavirus, the US institutional loan pipeline sank to US$13.7bn this week, the lowest level since the first week of the year. This week’s level is a far cry…
Oil and gas is the top defaulted sector in U.S. CLOs as of January At the end of January 2020, oil & gas, aerospace and defense, and mining were the top defaulted sectors in active US CLOs on a volume basis. Oil and gas had US$1.06bn of loan debt in 642 CLOs, of which US$602m…