As Libor declines, Libor floors begin to trickle back As interest rates continue to decline, Libor floors are on investors’ minds once again. As of September 24, the 3-month Libor rate was 2.11%, 69bp below its 2018- year-end level. So far in 3Q19, the average Libor rate is 2.20%, down from 2.51% in 2Q19. If…
Sustainability-linked loan volume dominates Green-ESG pipeline Year to date, over US$83bn in global green and ESG linked loan volume has been announced, almost two times year ago levels. Of this total, over 80% or nearly US$67bn is in the form of sustainability or ESG linked loans. Amid global interdepence and heightened awareness of environmental risks…
Primary leveraged yields decline slightly in 3Q19 Primary yields have tightened slightly across rating levels so far in 3Q19. The main driver behind the decline in yields are falling Libor rates. At its current level of 2.13%, the 3-month Libor rate has dropped 19bp from 2.32% at the end of 2Q19. For single B issuers,…
Leveraged loan market expected to pick up amidst more volatile market backdrop Completed US leveraged loan volume totals US$105bn so far this quarter as lenders look for a pick-up in activity after the Labor Day holiday. 3Q19 leveraged issuance comprises US$59.8bn in new money volume with another US$45.3bn in refinancing volume. Refi activity has been…
Top US CLO retail holdings Top retail loan holdings in active US CLOs at the end of July include Albertson’s TLB, Bass Pro Shops TL and EG Group TL, with US$2.1bn, US$1.9bn and US$1.7bn of total issuer loan volume respectively. While loan debt of several defaulted retail issuers is still held in active CLOs, their…
Aided by an increase in junior debt, total leverage on large corporate US LBO loans increases to 7x this quarter LBO activity in the US syndicated loan market remains robust this quarter. 3Q19 completed and in process LBO volume totals over US$23bn as new money deals continue to be a driver of leveraged lending. Meanwhile,…
PE sponsors ramp up delay draw term loans in the U.S. middle market Over the last few years, sponsors have been ramping up the amount of delay draw term loans within their middle market M&A transactions. In 2Q19, LPC tracked US$3.1bn in delay draw term loan volume within middle market sponsored finance which is the…
Deals with no LIBOR floor or 0% floor decline slightly in July Libor rates have been on the decline this year. As of July 24, the 3-month Libor rate was 2.27%, 54bp below its 2018 year-end level. So far in July, the average Libor rate is 2.3% down from 2.51% in 2Q19. And investors might…
2Q19 non-sponsored lending jumped to its highest quarterly level in a year After a very slow start to the year, non-sponsored lending soared in 2Q19. At US$26bn, non-sponsored syndicated loan volume was up 81% from 1Q19, but was still down 15% year-over-year. The quarter-over-quarter increase in lending was driven by a big surge in refinancings…
Syndicated MM sponsored lending volume reached $13.6bn in 2Q19 Syndicated middle market sponsored lending volume improved somewhat in the second quarter, but not nearly enough to match 2017-2018 levels. Issuance grew 10% quarter over quarter to US$13.61bn in 2Q19, but was still over 40% lower than 2Q18 levels. The lack of refinancing actvity was the…