An inability to satisfy ratio or incurrence-based tests in leveraged finance loan agreements can lead to a borrower group being unable to draw debt it has paid for, or complete transactions it has legally committed to....more
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
Nov. 12, 2025 – “Know thy enemy” is often attributed to Sun Tzu, who famously advised “[i]f you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” Centuries later, as many of us with...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
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
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
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
During 2021, after months of regulatory pressure to end reliance on the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), concerns were mounting that the US leveraged loan market was being too slow to adopt the Secured Overnight...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
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
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
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