S&P publishes review on European CLO market
Standard & Poor's published its report highlighting activity in the European CDOs of leveraged loan asset class for the first quarter 2005. Five transactions priced and one closed during this period with the remaining deals expected to close in the second quarter of 2005. Many transactions are ramping up and high levels of primary loan issuance - the highest quarterly LBO loan volume on record at 20.2 billion ($26.18 billion) - continue to fuel the CLO pipeline, according to the report.
Of the transactions rated by S&P, 11 were in the ramp-up phase at the end of the first quarter. Of the five transactions that closed or priced in 1Q05, three are follow-up transactions. For the second quarter, with the current pipeline, including the transactions already priced in the first quarter, it is expected that about five to six transactions will close, in line with S&P's predictions of 20 to 25 transactions for 2005.
