Mad Dogs and Panameños!
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At the beginning of 2024, the White & Case leveraged finance team made a series of predictions on how the leveraged loan and high yield bond markets would perform in 2024. After 12 months of softer markets in 2023, the...more
Leveraged loan activity in the US and Europe sprang back to life in H1 2024, with both markets enjoying near-triple-digit increases in issuance. In the US, overall issuance surged 95.7% from US$461 billion in H1 2023 to...more
After a challenging 2023, US and European leveraged loan issuance showed year-on-year gains in Q1 2024 as a more stable interest rate outlook encouraged borrowers and lenders to return to the market. After a challenging...more
A strong finish to 2023 helped to boost global leveraged loan issuance at the end of an otherwise rocky year for all key markets. The last 12 months were incredibly challenging for banks, investors and borrowers, as elevated...more
High interest rates weighed down on deals, precipitating a drop in leveraged loan issuance in 2023. However, there are reasons to be optimistic that deal activity will pick up in 2024 - As our latest leveraged finance...more
Loan issuance across all major jurisdictions saw year-on-year double-digit declines during the first half of 2023, as high inflation and rising interest rates continued to weigh on loan activity The first half of 2023 has...more
Heading into 2023, European leveraged finance markets continue to deal with fierce headwinds, following 12 months of economic and geopolitical volatility that has prompted a general slowdown in issuance. What does this mean...more
European leveraged finance markets have been completely reconfigured in the past 12 months. Inflation, rising interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty have squeezed liquidity and seen high yield bond and leveraged loan...more
Leveraged loan activity slows in the US, Europe and APAC as a volatile economic backdrop and the rising cost of debt starts to weigh on issuance - Leveraged loan markets have been buffeted by a challenging macroeconomic...more
After a year of red-hot moves in the tech sector, markets have cooled down in 2022, as inflation and rate hikes prompted many investors to prioritize investment in safe haven asset classes....more
For fast-growth companies in particular, recurring revenue (or annualised recurring revenue, "ARR") loans are increasingly common in the European loan market, as lenders and borrowers become more familiar with a new...more
A rebound in European corporate transactions has driven a double-digit acceleration in leveraged finance earmarked for M&A (excl. buyouts), with a robust pipeline setting the stage for an active 2022. In the summer of...more
HEADLINES - ▪️ In the US, leveraged loan issuance for 2021 reached US$1.4 trillion, a 63% increase year-on-year ▪️ The high yield bond market in the US was relatively flat, rising from US$428.3 billion in 2020 to...more
A flurry of activity saw year-on-year leveraged finance issuance in Europe hit new heights in 2021. Can this pace be maintained in the months ahead? Based on pipeline activity and investor appetite for growth, the answer...more
- In the US, leveraged loan issuance for 2021 reached US$1.4 trillion, a 63% increase year-on-year - The high yield bond market in the US was relatively flat, rising from US$428.3 billion in 2020 to US$429.7 billion in...more
HEADLINES - • Leverage loan technology and computer-related issuance in Western and Southern Europe almost doubled from annual pre-pandemic levels to €19.9 billion by the end of 2021 • Technology and computer-related...more
It was a year of rebounds in 2021, from the early hike in refinancing activity to the subsequent surge in M&A and buyout deals, as well as frenetic activity in the PE space, all of which contributed to a noteworthy uptick in...more
European leveraged finance markets roared back to life in 2021, sparked by a combination of attractive pricing in the first half of the year and buoyant M&A activity in the second half. The result? High volumes of refinancing...more
Investors eager to maintain high levels of capital deployment have kept terms and pricing highly flexible for bond and loan issuers, but that does not mean easy access for borrowers—lenders are still pushing back against...more
The rise in sustainability-linked debt issuance observed in 2021 has shown little sign of slowing down as borrowers continue to focus on improving environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in response to investor...more
HEADLINES - Buyouts and M&A secured a combined €75.4 billion of loan issuance in 2019 - Proceeds used for buyout issuance alone were down by more than 30 per cent to €38.7 billion when compared to the €56.6 billion...more
Much has been written about the influence of US terms on European transactions and particularly the steady migration of US concepts into English law facilities agreements, resulting from the supply-demand imbalance in the...more
European Leveraged Finance Alert Series: Issue 2, 2019 - This year European leveraged loan borrowers will test the terms of the additional debt provisions in their loan agreements and there is expected to be significant...more
• In Europe, leveraged loan issuance is down 28 per cent year-on-year to €202.5 billion in 2018, but is up on all years between 2014 and 2016 • High yield bond issuance is down 37 per cent year-on-year • Leveraged loans...more