U.S. Shadow Lenders See Loan Volume Slow, Quality Decline

(Bloomberg) -- The month of October brought some jumbo unitranche loans to the direct lending market. It also brought declines in the quality and terms of broader deals, according to some participants.

Private debt firms were tapped for at least two large transactions -- a $1.6 billion refinancing loan for insurance brokerage Risk Strategies and a $788 million transaction for foodservice equipment parts distributor Parts Town LLC. The deals are part of a trend toward bigger unitranche loans, which blend first-priority and subordinated debt into one, so the yield is typically higher than for the first-lien loan.

Still, Ares Capital Corp. saw a slow down in deal activity, Michael Smith, co-president of the firm said Oct. 30. The $14.5 billion private debt vehicle had been selected to lend about $665 million, and was working on a pipeline of about $265 million of potential deals, he said.

“While these levels are below average, we have seen a recent pickup in our activity and expect the typical year end push we usually see,” Smith said on an investor call. “Furthermore, should the market experience similar volatility as we saw in the fourth quarter of last year, we could have a more active quarter than today's backlog and pipeline imply.”

October Deals

*According to PrivCo

Falling Quality

Though future deal flow signs are encouraging, quality and pricing are both on the decline, according to Tom Newberry, head of private funds at debt shop CVC Credit Partners.

“This is another indicator of late cycle behavior, where the easier deals have been done and you see tougher transactions,” Newberry said. “The overall quality we've seen is not what we're accustomed to, but you can find good deals to do if you search and are more diligent.”

Pricing on a true first-lien loan is typically around 550 to 650 basis points over Libor, down about 50 basis points from this time last year, according to Newberry.

In the middle market, where borrowers typically have $15 million to $50 million in Ebitda, lenders are struggling to fundraise in a competitive landscape, according to Albert Periu, chief executive officer of lower middle-market lender Neptune Financial Inc.

“There are people getting squeezed here,” Periu said. “If you're not playing a differentiated story, you're having trouble right now.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Kelsey Butler in New York at kbutler55@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Natalie Harrison at nharrison73@bloomberg.net, Sally Bakewell, Adam Cataldo

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