Market dynamics reshape borrower choices - Competition between lending channels intensified in 2025, as leveraged finance markets in Europe saw lenders vying for deals and offering borrowers greater flexibility ahead of an...more
Jersey and Guernsey (collectively, the "Channel Islands") remain popular for both private equity buyout structures of UK and international corporate groups across various industries and asset classes, and for leverage...more
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
US borrowers have turned to convertible bonds in recent months as mainstream debt and equity markets have stumbled in the face of inflationary and interest rate headwinds. Combined leveraged loan and high yield bond deal...more
Welcome to Debt Download, Goodwin’s monthly newsletter covering what you need to know in the leveraged finance market. We hope you are enjoying some early summer weather and (if you live in the Northeast) are breathing...more
High yield bond activity in key global markets showed signs of life in Q1 2023, with quarter-on-quarter issuance improving despite ongoing macroeconomic challenges. In the US, high yield bond issuance in Q1 2023 came in at...more
Private debt managers seized the opportunity to win market share in 2022 as leveraged loan and high yield bond activity slowed—moving into 2023, private debt players remain open for business, but mainly on their terms - ...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
US leveraged loan and high yield bond markets saw significant declines in issuance in 2022, as macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty drove up borrowing costs, dampened risk appetite and significantly reduced M&A...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
Lenders and borrowers in US leveraged finance markets have had to recalibrate pricing and issuance volume expectations in 2022 in the face of rising inflation and interest rates....more
The first half of the year has marked an inflection point for US leveraged finance markets. After a buoyant but brief post-pandemic period in 2021, the combination of surging inflation, rising interest rates and events in...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
Large double-digit gains in US loan issuance meant leveraged finance markets ended 2021 with a bang and set the stage for robust activity in 2022- The US leveraged finance market posted strong year-on-year gains in 2021 as...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
- 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
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
Refinancing, repricing, M&A and buyout activity all surged in the early months of 2021, but then lenders shifted gears in pursuit of yield and borrowers realized they could tap the market for more than just liquidity. Where...more
By all accounts, leveraged finance markets in the United States were hot in the first quarter of 2021. This activity was driven primarily by refinancing and repricing. Borrowers jumped at the chance to take advantage of the...more
Abundant liquidity, a red-hot refinancing market and improving credit ratings combined through the first half of 2021 to limit defaults and ease any near-term pressure on the balance sheets of US borrowers. Borrowers...more
HEADLINES - Default levels remain historically low at 1 per cent to 2 per cent - Prevalence of cov-lite loans in Europe may be concealing some underperformance, but there are no conventional triggers for lenders to...more
- The covenant-lite share of European institutional loan issuance in 2019 reached 92 per cent - European leveraged loan issuance in 2019 was down slightly on the previous year to €209.1 billion - High yield bond...more