Last quarter, there was US$12.5bn of US sponsored middle market direct lending volume. This was 49% lower quarter-over-quarter, 45% lower year-over-year, and the lowest level since 2Q20. The 204 deals across both the syndicated and direct sponsored middle markets in 1Q23, was the fewest since 3Q20’s 183 count. Lenders consistently said there was a lack of quality deals in the 1Q23 supply. One direct lender told Refinitiv LPC in March, “It’s not that there are not deals out there, it’s just the quality is very low. (Lenders) are being pretty smart about what they’re doing.”
(Past performance is no guarantee of future results.)
Latest news
U.S. LevFin markets steady in 2Q26; credit quality divide widens
North American leveraged finance markets remained active in 2Q26, but performance gaps across credit tiers widened, according to a new Fitch Ratings report.
Lack of new issues clouds CLO market
It’s been boom time in the leveraged loan market but now that market has eased off, what are the implications…
Multiples on PE buyouts
This quarter marks our integration of SPI by StepStone as the primary source for US buyout valuation metrics for the PE Breakdown.