Special situations funds raise more capital through the pandemic North America-focused fundraising for private debt hit new highs during the pandemic, with $105.7bn raised in 2020 and $128.6bn in 2021. Special situations funds, which finance specific events, such as mergers and acquisitions, raised a record $23.4bn of capital for investment in North America in 2020….

Private debt dealflow in Canada dries up during COVID Momentum in Canada’s private debt market has all but disappeared over the past two years. The number of investments fell from 64 in 2020 to 40 in 2021. Deal value (US$) has slumped from a recent high of $10.8bn in 2019 to $4.1bn in 2020 and…

Private debt’s expansion in Asia-Pacific Growth of Asia’s private debt industry has accelerated in recent years, as the corporate debt market shifts from a conservatively priced, bank-dominated market to a more diversified market. Total private debt AUM focused on the Asia-Pacific region jumped by 28.9% since the start of 2020… Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a

Private debt funds positioned for busier year Aggregate private debt deal value declined 31% in 2021 after a record year in 2020. The differing rates of decline in the sub-strategies are an indication of managers’ risk appetites and deal availability. Senior tranche lending saw annual deal values and volumes down 28%, and in the riskier…

Regulatory changes in Europe could stimulate PD industry The European Union has taken steps to gain the benefits offered by the Chapter 11- bankruptcies regime, shifting the focus from companies’ liquidation to protecting creditors’ rights and keeping the business afloat. The North American private debt market has always dwarfed the European market… Subscribe to Read

Direct lending most popular PD strategy of 2021 Private debt funds reached an average 120% of their target size at final close last year, with a total of $195.1bn raised. Of this, 58% was raised for direct lending strategies, amounting to $112.5bn over 94 funds. The next largest strategy within the asset class was distressed…

Private debt fundraising in 2021 Investor demand for private debt is strong, with funds exceeding targets by record margins in 2021. The average percentage of target size at final close last year reached 120%, a sharp contrast to 2020 when the average final close was 98% of target size. Even compared to pre-pandemic fundraising… Subscribe

US Remains Most Attractive for Private Debt, But Other Markets Are Catching Up Every year, Preqin asks investors which developed markets they think are presenting the best opportunities in private debt. The US is the top market, although the 65% of investors who identified it is down from 77%. However, a number of other regions…

Distressed Debt Volatility Doesn’t Hamper Closing Large Funds Distressed debt returns have been volatile over the past 10 years, with median net IRRs moving between 6.3% and 14.6%. This gives the strategy a median net IRR of 8.62% over 2009 to 2018 (the most recent vintage for which return data is meaningful), very similar to…

Direct Lending vs. Distressed Debt Over time, direct lending has slowly taken over from distressed debt as private debt’s largest strategy. At the end of 2016, direct lending had AUM of $156bn compared to distressed debt’s $185bn. But since then, direct lending has grown steadily to $452bn while distressed debt had grown more slowly, hitting…