Unitranches help move senior leverage higher on direct lender middle market technology sector LBO deals The increasing popularity of the unitranche loan structure backing direct lending middle market LBOs in the technology sector drove senior leverage levels higher than those in the broadly syndicated market last year. Tech sector deals have seen persistently high purchase…
US unitranche leverage edges lower, spreads tick higher in 1Q22 First quarter 2022 US unitranche volume pulled back sharply in both the middle market and large corporate markets as lenders took a breather from the record-setting pace seen in 2H21. Unitranche issuance totaled US$10.1bn in the middle market and US$9.8bn in the large corporate market…
BDC origination activity expected to decline in 2022 but remain robust After a record setting 2021 and a slower start to 2022, BDC origination activity is expected to decline this year, according to the recent Refinitiv LPC BDC Outlook Survey. Based on responses from a cross section of BDC managers, direct lenders, research analysts and…
Equity multiples increased to 6.6x on US LBO deals in 1Q22 US LBO volume topped off at US$38.8bn in 1Q22, the lowest level since 1Q21 but good enough to be the twelfth highest quarterly level all time. One theme that pushed volume higher was larger LBO loan sizes. Three over-US$5bn LBO loan packages closed in…
1Q22 Leveraged volume down 55% amid inflation fears and Ukraine war The combination of SOFR rollout, inflationary pressures, labor and supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine (as well as its impact on commodities) all tinged the US leveraged loan market in 1Q22, contributing to lower volumes and increasing spreads. At US$186.3bn, 1Q22 leveraged…
1Q22 US Syndicated loan volume down over 36% y-o-y US lenders booked less than US$455bn of loan volume via retail syndication in 1Q22, a 36% decline year over year and a 37% drop quarter over quarter. The results marked the lowest quarterly totals since 4Q20 and the weakest 1Q results in three years. Uncertainty in…
BDC technology lending has grown rapidly Strong portfolio company performance has underpinned the positive environment for BDCs in recent quarters, with Ebitda and revenues moving significantly higher over the last two years. At the sector level, technology has outperformed. Against that backdrop, BDC managers shifted their allocations toward technology credits…. Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a
How big of a unitranche could we see this year? The “mega-unitranche” reached new scale in 2021, as private lenders’ capacity to finance large transactions continued to increase. Unitranche loan issuance exploded to US$151bn in 2021, from US$41.5bn the prior year. This included US$86bn of large corporate unitranches, up from US$18bn the prior year…. Subscribe
US LBO first-lien leverage at all-time high Total leverage on US LBO deals continues to hover around the 7.1x mark in 1Q22, the same area its averaged over the last seven quarters. What is different this quarter is an increase in first-lien leverage which is averaging 5.9x so far, the highest level tracked all-time. So…
BDC loan valuations stabilize in most recent filing period The most recent data from BDC earnings season shows that debt valuations stabilized in 4Q21, as price appreciation finally eased off, following a huge rebound from the lows seen in 1Q20 when COVID first hit. Looking at the cohort of BDCs that have filed as of…