LBO leverage levels continue to loosen Debt to EBITDA levels on LBO deals spanning the entire market (including broadly syndicated and institutional middle market loans) are currently averaging 6.3 times when looking on a rolling last four quarter basis. This would make it the highest post-crisis average and second only to 4Q07’s average of 6.5…

CLO AAA spreads continue to tighten in early 2018 Spreads for U.S. CLO AAA notes continue to tighten in early 2018 with the average AAA discount margin dipping south of 110bp in mid-February down from 113bp at the end of December. Thinner pricing has been led by Zais Group’s US$460m CLO which came to market…

M&A loan financings comprise 30% of completed U.S. leveraged issuance this quarter The U.S. leveraged loan market continues to chug along at a steady pace. So far this quarter there has been US$110bn in completed leveraged loan issuance. The mix of deals comprises a healthy chunk of M&A. There has been US$33bn in completed leveraged…

BDC share prices were engulfed by market wrath earlier this week Register now for LPC’s 6th Annual Middle Market Loans Conference – April 25, 2018 at the NY Marriott Marquis! For those investors that are bullish on BDCs, this week was a prime buying opportunity as the middle market debt managers were engulfed in equity…

Thomson Reuters financial unit sale marks the largest LBO financing since 2013 Tuesday’s announcement that Blackstone is buying a 55% stake in Thomson Reuters Financial and Risk business in a deal that values the unit at US$20bn makes it the largest LBO deal since 2013. That year saw buyout deals of US$28bn for HJ Heinz…

Strong investor demand for institutional loans help issuers flex terms in their favor Continued strong demand for institutional loans has carried into the New Year. Already there has been US$30bn in institutional loan issuance this year. While that is lower than the year-ago level of US$43bn, this year’s number includes more new money issuance. Of…

U.S. new issue CLOs reached US$117bn in 2017 with an additional US$165bn in CLO refis and resets  Although loan fund outflows have been more frequent since the fall, US$12.7bn flowed into mutual funds in 2017. Separate managed account money grew as pensions, endowments and family offices along with insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds allocated…

Middle market loan issuance jumps 23% in 2017 to $170B Middle market lending heated up in 2017 and is poised to remain even hotter in 2018. Issuance hit $170 billion in 2017, up 23% from 2016’s weak levels. The sponsored market is driving most of the momentum as LBO issuance of $28bn hit the second…

2017 US Syndicated loan volume tops US$2.5Tr to set new record Despite the din of geopolitical noise in the background, 2017 was a remarkably steady year in the loan market, punctuated by an especially strong finish in the last few weeks of 4Q17. At US$2.5Tr, full year 2017 US syndicated loan volume was up 26%…

Flex activity swings back in favor of issuers this week So far this week, flex activity has swung back in favor of issuers after investors pushed back on several deals in prior weeks. The Flex Factor averages a very issuer friendly flex score of -1.9 this week, after occupying investor friendly territory the prior two…