Yields of first/second-lien structures continue to tighten The average yield has widened to 5.46% so far in 3Q17 from 4.96% in 2Q17. One of the reasons behind widening yields is that while refinancings continue to lead activity, the share of M&A credits has increased to 40% of the institutional tranches priced so far this quarter….

Leverage peaks in the middle market across capital structures in 1H17 With market conditions extremely heated, leverage levels have peaked across most capital structures in the middle market in 1H17. The “all senior” capital structure hit a new peak at 3.83 times in 1H17, up from 3.79 times last year and from 3.41 times back…

Primary leveraged yields widen in July Average yields have increased across the board so far in July, more so for lower rated issuers. The average yield, assuming a three-year term to repayment on first-lien institutional term loans is 5.79% for B-rated issuers so far in 3Q17…. Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member? Log in here...

Middle market loan volume disappoints in 2Q17 Despite all the capital flowing into the middle market, loan supply continued to disappoint in 2Q17. Total middle market loan issuance reached US$39.8bn in 2Q17, up a slight 2% and 7% from 1Q17 and 2Q16 levels…. Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member? Log in here...

1H17 US Syndicated loan volume hits record high at over US$1.2Tr US syndicated loan issuance hit a new milestone in 1H17 to mark the highest half year total on record at over US$1.2T (an additional US$21.6bn of clubbed loans also worked their way through the market to bring US corporate issuance to nearly US$1.4Tr in…

Large Corporate LBO Leverage Jumped in 2Q17 to 6.4x Leverage levels on large corporate LBO deals closed in 2Q17 has reached the highest level tracked since 4Q14. Leverage averaged roughly 4.84 times first lien by 6.39 times total debt to EBITDA this quarter for broadly syndicated LBO deals,… Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member? Log

Middle market sponsor-backed issuers are seeing fewer repricings than large corp. issuers Private equity shops have taken advantage of strong liquidity in the loan market to refinance/reprice many of their portfolio companies into longer dated maturities, looser structures and cheaper pricing…. Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member? Log in here...

Middle market fundraising firing on all cylinders in 2017 Money continues to pour into the middle market in a myriad of ways. For starters, 2017 is going to be the strongest year for middle market CLO formation since the credit crisis. Year to date $7.3 billion in middle market CLOs have priced, not too far…

U.S. new issue CLO volume outpaces refinancings for first time in 2017 May marked the first month this year where U.S. new issue CLO volume outpaced refinancing volume. CLO new issue amounted to $9.8 billion in May, slightly down from the $10.2 billion posted in April, taking 2017 issuance to $37.5 billion…. Subscribe to Read

Primary leveraged yields tighten in May After widening in April, average yields have tightened in May, but are still above their March level. The average yield, assuming a three year term to repayment on first-lien institutional loans is 4.87% in May, down from 5.03% in April but still 20bp above the… Subscribe to Read MoreAlready