European CLO primary spreads still have a long way to go
Are European CLO spreads in the primary market cheap or expensive? Our latest research shows that while US managers can celebrate AAAs reaching the 150s, in Europe spreads still have a long way to go to reach historical norms.

DebtDynamics EMEA: Size matters
Direct lending margins widen on small deals, with an enlarging gap to other deals in the latest DebtDynamics EMEA research 

Credit PMs remain gloomy in latest IACPM survey
Survey participants in the latest IACPM Credit Outlook Survey believe the euphoria seen in global financial markets during the last few months of 2023 was overdone

New research says that CLO arb is better than you think, but still not good enough
New research by Barclays’ Powell Eddins and Pranava Boyidapu suggests that CLO arbitrage is in a better place than many investors think, but that BBs are still more attractive

November 2023 European Leveraged Highlights
Debtwire today releases the November 2023 European Leveraged Highlights, containing key trends in the leveraged loan and high-yield bond markets

Is direct lending on the rebound? - Debtwire Special Report
After a slow start in 2023, direct lending in both the US and Europe has been on the rise, with volumes in Q3 almost doubling compared to the previous quarter

DebtDynamics EMEA | Right on time
Leveraged loan borrowers favouring shorter tenors pile maturities for 2028

DebtDynamics EMEA | Under pressure: likely-to-distress scores highlight struggling industries and regional woes
The European leveraged market has crossed the threshold of 100 companies at the stressed/distressed lifecycle stage, according to Debtwire data

Credit PMs predict global recession
Respondents to the latest IACPM credit outlook survey were feeling particularly gloomy, with a strong majority predicting recessions in both the US and Europe next year

Loan Highlights 3Q23: Loan volumes remain significantly lower than historical averages
Capital markets loan activity continued to struggle in the third quarter of 2023, as issuers in the Americas and Europe held off from tapping markets

European CLOs win out against US deals
Last month, our analysis explored the performance of US CLOs that were previously reset. We found that they delivered higher distributions than deals which weren’t reset, with the exception of the 2017 and 2018 vintages (Creditflux September 2023 — Do resets help CLOs perform better?). This article expands that analysis to the European market, and compares the performance of US BSL and EU CLO equity tranches.

Testing the water: issuers gauge sterling HY bond demand following 10-year record low
Pure Gym, a UK-based fitness club, has become the second company in a week to test demand for sterling-denominated senior secured notes in the European high-yield market

Snooze - you’re extended! Can lenders in European SFAs sleep-walk into extended tranches? - Xtract Special Report
This Xtract Research special report asks whether lenders under European SFAs could find themselves re-designated into a later-maturing facility or tranche than originally documented without their explicit consent

Refinancing continues to dominate headline figures in latest European leveraged highlights
Debtwire has released its July 2023 European Leveraged Highlights, containing key trends in the leveraged loan and high-yield bond markets

1H23 European direct lender rankings
The volume of European direct lending facilities issued fell to just €8.5 billion in 2Q23. The same quarter last year was the largest on record at €51.3 billion, representing over an 80% drop year on year.

Retail maintains primacy as most distressed sector in Europe with €31 billion of debt restructuring commenced in 1H23
Newly commenced restructurings tracked by Debtwire in Europe during 1H 2023 show 114 mainly large-cap restructurings, compared to 89 tracked in 1H 2022, a 28% increase year-on-year

Last frontier: Common currency conquers non-Eurozone countries to dominate lev loan market
Our latest DebtDynamics EMEA research shows that the share of the European leveraged loan syndication market denominated in the EU common currency jumped from 80% in 2015 to levels closer to 95% since 2019  

New IACPM survey points to a global recession
Respondents to the latest IACPM Credit Outlook Survey overwhelmingly expect global economies to fall into recession either later this year or sometime in 2024.

High yield bond index offers opportunities for credit pickers
The global high yield bond market has become a skewed barbell offering benefits to credit pickers, according to a new research note from global asset manager Ninety One. 

Question your assumptions
Valuing CLO paper is complicated, and loan prepayments are one of the trickiest parts. When pricing a new issue CLO, the market generally assumes that 15-20% of loans will prepay their principal annually. This prepayment rate is important because it essentially determines the pace at which a CLO’s rated debt is paid off after the reinvestment period, when the CLO pays down its own principal.

34% of CLOs rated by Fitch out of reinvestment
34% of the CLOs rated by Fitch Ratings have left their reinvestment periods including six deals that exited in May, the rating agency said in a note to clients on Thursday

More than 45% of Euro CLOs to be out of RP by Q1 2024, Fitch says
More than 45% of Fitch-rated reinvesting European CLOs are anticipated to be out of their reinvestment period by the end of Q1 2024, up from around a third as of April, which could lead to rating pressure for mezzanine tranches in those deals

Euro CLO exposure to financial sector 'limited', say Fitch
European CLO exposure to the financial sector is 'limited' and CLO ratings will not be impacted by UBS's acquisition of Credit Suisse, according to new data from Fitch Ratings

Loan trading within European CLOs drops to 0.6%: BofA
European CLO manager trading activity declined sharply this year amid less leveraged loan primary supply and declining secondary liquidity, according to Bank of America research

Five issuers account for 22% of Euro CLO triple Cs: BofA
22% of triple C-rated debt in European CLOs originates from just five issuers, according to analysis from Bank of America research this morning