Archives| PDF| Research |Week of Aug 9, 2021
“High inflation and lower economic growth is not a good combination.”
- Dave Donabedian, chief investment officer, CIBC Private Wealth Management.
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“$2 Billion is the New $1 Billion”:
Unitranche Revisited (Second of a Series)
According to Refinitiv LPC, US unitranche volume came to almost $22 billion last quarter – the highest level they’ve tracked historically. That activity was comprised of records for both the middle and the larger corporate markets.

At the same time, one-stop risk/return dynamics have moved in favor of issuers. The average debt/ebitda is now at a record high 5.9x, with all-in Libor spreads hovering around 600 bps.

And as we mentioned last week, more $1 billion-plus unis are coming to market than ever. So what are the drivers behind the frothy market for this innovative financing?

Here’s what we told M&A magazine in a recent interview:

“The disintermediation away from the loan syndication market to private credit, particularly for the upper end of the middle market...
NEW! 2H 2021 Midyear Outlook
  • Economic and Market Overview
  • Broadly Syndicated Market-Observations
  • A View on Private Credit
Readers' Say
This Week’s Question
What is your least favorite office jargon?
(*All responses are confidential.)
Ball is in your court
On a go forward basis
Raise the bar
Win-win
Think outside the box
Last Week's Results
For Lenders: What vehicles do you utilize most for your lending activities?
Chart of the Week
Tranche Launch
An armada of large unitranche financings have sailed into the direct lending market this year.
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Stat of the Week
 Loan Stats at a Glance 
PDI Picks
The new era of the supersized loan
A recent financing underlines the ever-larger amounts of capital that the biggest private debt managers are now able to deploy...
Leveraged Loan Insight & Analysis
2021 Leveraged loan issuance
at US$722bn, up 63% YoY
As the delta variant threatens to destabilize US economic activity via a possible 4th wave the leveraged loan pipeline has seen an uptick as issuers move to bring deals to market before Labor Day...
The Pulse of Private Equity
A recovery in private debt performance
As an asset class, private debt experienced its worst performance in a decade in Q1 2020. According to PitchBook’s latest Global Private Debt Report, private debt funds fell by 7% that quarter on a pooled IRR basis...
Contact: Alex Lykken / PitchBook
High-Yield Bond Statistics
Weekly fund flows source: Lipper
Covenant Trends 
Percentage of First Lien Loans
with Affected Lender Voting Protection
Private Debt Intelligence
Europe outraises North America in Q2
Globally, both the number of private debt funds in market and the amount of capital targeted continued to rise through Q2 2021...
Debtwire Middle-Market
Loan secondary prices stumble as attention
turns to the primary markets
Source: Debtwire Par, Markit
The seemingly unrelenting secondary market rally hit a wall in July, with average bids in the loan secondary market falling 56bps during the month to 97.39, with the share of loans trading in the par-plus slice of the market falling to 11% from 24% as investors turn their attention, and capital, towards the robust primary market...
Reorg Credit Intelligence
SVXR Seeks to Sell Assets With Bruker Nano as $11.9M Stalking Horse; Noteholders Do Not Consent to Proposed $2M DIP Financing
SVXR, a San Jose, Calif.-based developer and manufacturer of high-resolution, automated x-ray inspection and metrology equipment for the semiconductor and advanced-electronics markets, filed for chapter 11 protection on Wednesday, Aug. 4, in the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California. “Like many early-stage, hyper-specialized, and research-intensive companies,” SVXR acting CEO Daniel Trepanier says in the first day declaration, “the Debtor has never been a positive cash-flow enterprise.” As a result of operating losses, a lack of liquidity and defaults under its secured note obligations, the debtor has been “steadfastly” in pursuit of a sale of substantially all of its assets. To read our First Day team’s full case summary of the SVXR chapter 11 filing click through here.
Contact: Matt Danese/Reorg 
Middle Market Deal Terms at a Glance
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This publication is a service to our clients and friends. It is designed only to give general information on the market developments actually covered. It is not intended to be a comprehensive summary of recent developments or to suggest parameters for any prospective financing opportunity.