Leveraged finance (LevFin) issuance across the US and European institutional loan and high-yield (HY) bond markets rose 279% year-on-year (YoY) to USD 1.4trn in the first nine months of 2024. Strong investor demand and the falling cost of borrowing propelled the rebound in market activity, with refinancing and opportunistic repricing transactions driving year-to-date (YTD) volumes.
Both mergers & acquisitions (M&A) and leveraged buyout (LBO) transactions bounced back from the historical lows seen in 2023. Renewed liquidity and tightening spreads helped syndicated markets regain their share of the large-cap LBO space from private credit funds, which had stepped in to fill the void during the more volatile periods over the last two years. The availability of cheaper financing attracted a raft of borrowers to refinance private credit debt in the broadly syndicated markets this year, giving a boost to the much-needed supply of new paper.
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