This week we chat with David Brackett, Managing Partner and Co-CEO, Antares Capital. Founded in 1996, Antares is a premier credit solutions provider to middle-market, private-equity backed companies.
Download Antares’ Report: “2017: Leading with optimism in times of uncertainty” here
The Lead Left: David, thanks for making time for us. And congratulations to you and your partners on your 20th anniversary. That’s an amazing accomplishment. So tell us what you’re seeing in today’s market.
David Brackett: Thanks, Randy, appreciate it. We’re beginning to see a few deals backing up in the syndicated loan market. We’re hearing that investors’ B3 buckets are getting full. That will force them to be more discriminating between credits. You need to pick your spots. More generally, since the start of the year we’ve also seen some spread compression.
TLL: You certainly have a unique seat now to observe these trends.
DB: And we’ve seen significant shifts in those trends. The first half of last year was all about having a large hold on your balance sheet or being able to offer a unitranche option. In the second half of last year and, thus far in 2017, it’s been a distribution market. You need to be able to play in all of these strategies.
How does the client want to execute the deal? Are they more rate-sensitive, or is it about structure? Is cov-lite an option? We help the sponsor go through their cost-benefit analysis.
TLL: So conditions are going to be choppier?