EIB buys mezzanine tranche in Commerzbank SRT
Commerzbank has launched a €1.5 billion significant risk transfer with the European Investment Bank (EIB) announcing that it has invested in the mezzanine tranche of the securitisation

European unitranche deal flow increased 11% last year, finds GCA
European direct lending unitranche deals completed in 2019 increased by 11%, according to GCA Altum's Q4 2019 MidCap Monitor, marking a record year for the industry 

CSO arrangers take notes from success of CLOs
CSO arrangers are looking to follow the CLO template in more ways than one, with sources indicating that some dealers are looking to structure their deals in note format (as opposed to swaps).

Euro loan trading: CLO managers find a home for building specialist's downsized loan
CRH Europe issued a €700 million term loan B in November, which was downsized from €900 million. But still, it has proved popular with CLO managers with CLO-i indicating that CLOs bought €275.2 million of the loan

CBAM plans expansion with new $60 million credit facility
CBAM has closed a $60 million credit facility to refinance a working capital facility to its parent company Eldridge Industries

European Direct Lending Perspectives: fundraising records shatter
Fundraising in European direct lending hit €32.2 billion in September to mark a record-breaking year for the industry, according to the latest version of European Direct Lending Perspectives

CSO arrangers look to build on $65bn of issuance in 2019
The synthetic bespoke tranche market this year has fallen short of expectations in terms of overall issuance volume, but ends with transformative inroads being made.

Direct lenders start to overcome bank dominance in Spain
Spain is becoming a popular destination for direct lenders — despite the competitive terms offered by local banks. Sources say that borrowers are starting to look beyond pricing to ease of execution and flexible documentation.

NNIP's private debt head moves to private equity job
The team leader for direct lending, loan portfolio financing and non-performing loan securitisations at NN Investment Partners has moved to a senior private equity job at AnaCap Financial Partners

Värde taps growing CRE CLO market for the third time
Värde Partners closed a $627 million CRE CLO last week via Goldman Sachs

European CLO managers join tussle for high-quality loans
CLO managers which have been looking to de-risk their portfolios may have a fight on their hands if they seek to get hold of higher-quality paper in the primary market.

ABS investors show increased interest in green securitisations to reach EU climate targets
Securitisation is being touted as a tool to help close the yearly investment gap of €180 billion needed to achieve the EU’s climate and energy targets by 2030, as identified in the European Commission’s sustainable finance action plan, which was published last year.

PE firms take hands-on approach to syndication
European private equity firms are building out their debt capital market capabilities in a move which could radically improve information flow.

US loan trading: Sinclair loans dominate the airwaves as CLOs tune in
Sinclair Broadcasting Group and Diamond Sports – both subsidiaries of issuer Sinclair - worked their way into CLO portfolios in July, with 91 managers purchasing $1.42 billion of the loans in July

Prepayments pose reinvestment dilemma for CLO managers
CLO managers globally could be left sitting on piles of cash amid an uptick in loan prepayments. Standard & Poor’s reported that institutional US loan prepayments had hit $26 billion in July, and more recently some widely-held CLO names are set to return principal to lenders, with financial data provider Refinitiv US Holdings and Italian telecom operator Wind Tre taking this route.

Credit traders' kickstand: Europe ascendant as high yield pipeline returns
The high yield bond primary market grinds back into gear this week just as European credit reaches an extreme point of outperformance over the US, and comes on the back of Europe’s busiest week of investment grade issuance in 18 months

Europe and US diverge on covenant lite structures
Direct lending is syphoning away traditional loan supply

Direct lenders brace themselves for distressed opportunities
Credit managers are launching distressed vehicles with a twist by narrowing their focus down to the direct lending market.

Direct lenders accused of exaggerating terms in lender education
Sources say that some direct lenders in Europe are submitting standard indicative lender terms with limited or no internal discussions with their respective credit committees.

Borrowers promise to pay penalty if they breach ESG targets
Loan investors are incentivising companies to improve their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance by linking the financial terms of a loan to the ability of the borrower to meet predetermined sustainability targets.

UK direct lending deal flow picks up with 99 deals in H1, finds GCA Altium
While loan volumes in the UK were much higher than expected, activity in Germany was lower compared to H1 last year, according to the GCA Altium MidCap Monitor Q2 2019

ResponsAbility closes impact securitisation at $175 million
ResponsAbility, a Zurich-headquartered impact assessment manager, has closed a $175 million securitisation of loans to microfinance and SME-finance providers in emerging markets

Upper mid-market yields value on price and leverage
Direct lenders are getting access to greater deal flow in the upper middle-market with private equity sponsors leaning towards private credit after a torrid end to last year in the broadly syndicated loan market.

UK transitions to post-Libor era with array of Sonia-linked deals
The UK’s structured finance market has moved to swiftly embrace the daily compounded benchmark Sonia (Sterling overnight index average) ahead of the 2021 phase out of Libor.