Leveraged loans

The company's advisers are sounding out lenders for new financing, which could be structured as a so-called debtor-in-possession loan to fund continuing operations if it begins the Chapter 11 process.

1988 Asset Management has priced and closed $2.5 billion in CLOs in the U.S., and the partnership expects to issue CLOs regularly in Europe.

That's pushed secondary leveraged loan prices near highs not seen in months as investors flush with cash seek out supply, leading borrowers to stream into both loan and junk bond markets.

Some new loan sales, as well as transactions designed to extend the due dates on existing debt, have also been pushed to the sidelines.

Bank underwriters across the U.S. and Europe are pulling sales and pausing future ones amid tepid demand. Barclays Plc recently shelved a pair of loans for Ineos Enterprises and Russell Investments, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. yanked a deal for Agiliti Health.

Debt markets are increasingly sorting US leveraged loans into two categories: money good, and distressed.

Investors brace for more FTX-like blowouts in the private equity industry and expect a good year for investment grade credit, survey shows.

A bank club led by Morgan Stanley has posted the steepest discount on a leveraged loan so far this year as Wall Street institutions struggle to lock down buyers for risky debt amid mounting recession fears. 

After a colossally “brutal” period in the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak last year, a recent report from Kroll Bond Rating Agency noted that business development corporations mostly rebounded by year-end 2020 to bring a sense of renewed optimism into the alternative-lending space.

Investment Management Corp. of Ontario is investing $400 million to a customized portfolio, with the goal of capitalizing on Are’s all-weather approach, taking advantage of opportunistic dislocations and market inefficiencies. The remaining $100 million will be allocated to the flagship Ares Pathfinder fund.

More opportunistic borrowers may come as investors continue to pour money into U.S. leveraged loan funds, which have seen the longest positive streak since 19 weeks between February and June 2018.

The difference between yields on investment-grade debt and junk bonds doesn’t bode well. It’s a sign that leverage in the system is rising.

Both agencies cited the increasingly sunny economic outlook driven by the reach of COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

Strong growth, continued low-cost borrowing and an oil rally are all contributing to a friendly backdrop for high-yield issuance.

Fewer obligors with troubled loans improved default exposure for managers of broadly syndicated CLOs, and provided deeper cushions for overcollateralization tests.

United follows in the footsteps of recent deals by Michaels Cos. and Triton Water Holdings Inc. that favored loans over bonds.

CoreLogic, known in the real estate industry for its home-price indexes, plans to sell a $4 billion offering to help finance its buyout by Stone Point Capital and Insight Capital.

Many of the biggest whales in collateralized loan obligations are returning to the $900 billion market after spending much of last year on the sidelines, a shift that could make one of Wall Street’s biggest credit machines run even hotter.

Bankruptcy courts saw a greater-than-average number of filings in the first quarter, though a year-on-year decline highlights the impact of cheap cash flowing to troubled borrowers.

For investment firms that profit by buying the debt of troubled companies, it looked like the opportunity of a lifetime: a $1 trillion pile of distressed bonds and loans in the Americas alone as the pandemic sent markets into meltdown last March.