CLOs
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CIFC's search ends
FAB Partners is set to acquire CIFC for approximately US$333m in cash. Under the terms of the merger agreement, CIFC shareholders will be entitled to receive US$11.46 in cash per share, representing a premium of more than 60% over CIFC's closing share price on 19 August and a premium of approximately 160% over the 27 January 2016 closing share price .......
Job Swaps 23 August 2016
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JPMorgan shakes up syndicate
JPMorgan has formed a new credit product development team, which will be headed by Ryan O'Grady and comprise members of the current credit markets team. Although currently co-head of the bank's global syndicate team, O'Grady's new role will require him to focus solely on the international syndicate business. He will report to his co-head counterpart, Bob LoBue.
In addition, following .......
Job Swaps 23 August 2016
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CLO resets to rise?
US CLO refinancing and reset activity is expected to rise in 4Q16, as investors and collateral managers seek to extend existing deals prior to the 23 December risk-retention deadline. Over US$250bn of CLOs - representing 72% of the outstanding post-crisis market - will have exited their non-call periods during the quarter and be eligible for refinancing, according to Wells Fargo .......
News Round-up 22 August 2016
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THL taps marketing pro
THL Credit Advisors has recruited Katherine Taylor as a director in its New York office, where she will focus on business development, product development, strategic relationships and marketing across the firm's direct lending and tradable credit platforms. She joins from Graycliff Partners, the former private equity team of HSBC in the US and Latin America, where she was vp and .......
Job Swaps 22 August 2016
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AIMS supports Littlejohn
Goldman Sachs Alternative Investments & Manager Selection (AIMS) Group has made a minority investment in Littlejohn & Co. The investment was made through Goldman's AIMS Petershill programme, which is purchasing a passive, non-voting primary stake in Littlejohn representing less than 10%.
The investment follows a 17-year relationship between AIMS and Littlejohn, in which AIMS has been an investor in all .......
Job Swaps 19 August 2016
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Aon appoints Asia director
Aon has appointed Les Collett as regional director for structured credit and political risk, based in Hong Kong. He was previously at Willis Towers Watson, where he was an executive director.
Collett will report to Miles Johnstone, who is head of structured credit and political risk for Asia. Collett has previously worked at Standard Bank, Calyon, HSH Nordbank, Bankgesellschaft Berlin .......
Job Swaps 18 August 2016
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Taurus investment increased
Chenavari fund Toro recently disclosed that it has increased its investment in an originator - Guernsey LLP Taurus Corporate Financing - in relation to its originated transactions strategy, via two investments of €23m and €12m in loan warehouse transactions. Taurus will act as the originator for and hold risk-retention securities in Chenavari Investment Managers' latest CLO - the €350m Toro .......
News Round-up 15 August 2016
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Mixed quarter for Euro CLOs
The European CLO market came to a brief halt at the end of June, notes S&P in its 2Q16 European CLO performance index report, as investors absorbed the uncertainty created by the result of the UK's referendum on EU membership. Issuance still managed to climb year-on-year, however.
The second quarter saw market pricing tighten from 150bp to 128bp, and it .......
News Round-up 11 August 2016
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Post-crisis Greek CLO emerges
National Bank of Greece (NBG) has completed the first Greek SME securitisation since 2007. The transaction, Sinepia, will enable the bank to raise up to €300m of medium-term financing.
The senior tranches of the CLO were placed with the European Investment Bank, European Investment Fund and European Bank for Reconstructions and Development (EBRD). The senior notes - rated double-B by S&P .......
News Round-up 9 August 2016
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Retail risks weighed
Exposure to the retail sector poses idiosyncratic risk to US CLO performance rather than widespread challenges, according Fitch. The inclusion of loans from challenged retailers like J Crew and Tailored Brands (Men's Wearhouse) in portfolios remains a concern (SCI 9 June), but is not expected to significantly impact CLO performance.
Retail is the third largest sector in Fitch's CLO database, .......
News Round-up 9 August 2016
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Japan stimulus to boost SMEs
A new ¥28trn stimulus package introduced by the Japanese government is credit positive for SME structured finance deals, says Moody's in its latest Credit Outlook. The package includes measures to help ease SME refinancing and provide them with greater flexibility for borrowing.
According to Moody's, diversification and funding alternatives will help a variety of SME deals, including CLOs and ABS .......
News Round-up 8 August 2016
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Direct lending team acquired
A partnership managed by CVC Credit Partners, supported by a fund advised by Coller Capital, has acquired Northport Capital TRS from Resource Capital Corp. The move will increase assets under management in CVC Credit Partners' global direct lending strategy to approximately US$1bn and complement its existing European strategy.
Northport is a direct lender that specialises in providing credit facilities to .......
Job Swaps 8 August 2016
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US CLOs still strong
The US CLO secondary market is still maintaining the strong activity levels seen since the Brexit vote back in late June.
"The market is very strong, with this continuing to centre on mezzanine where a real curve is developing," says one trader. "Sellers saw the strong execution in BWICs early in the summer and have found little reason to stop .......
SCIWire 4 August 2016
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SME CLO leverage worsens
SME leverage has worsened since 2011, which is a credit negative for SME CLOs, says Moody's. The median total leverage for the 750 Moody's-rated US SME obligors in CLOs has increased to 4.6x in 2015 from 4.0x in 2011, leading to a deterioration in SME borrower credit quality.
Although leverage increased only slightly among the 124 unique SME obligors in CLOs .......
News Round-up 3 August 2016
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CLO refinancing scenario RFC issued
Moody's has previously outlined proposed changes to how it examines refinancing scenarios in its rating analysis of combination securities secured by CLO or CDO debt tranches (SCI 22 April). In a supplemental request for comment, the agency now seeks feedback on how it will examine refinancing scenarios in the rating analysis of combination securities.
For CLOs evaluated any time between closing and .......
News Round-up 2 August 2016
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US CLOs stay robust
The US CLO secondary market is maintaining robust activity levels so far this week after a strong July.
"It was actually the busiest month we have had for a long time, not just in CLOs but across a number of our fixed income desks," says one trader. "It may be surprising to some, but there were a variety of factors .......
SCIWire 2 August 2016
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Better loan prices soften CLO blow
Improving oil and gas loan prices last quarter helped to mitigate the impact from default and triple-C haircuts in US CLOs with exposure to the sector, according to Fitch's latest US CLO index. Average senior OC ratio and par gain declined at a slower pace than in the previous quarter, while exposure to defaulted issuers decreased from 1.1% of the .......
News Round-up 2 August 2016
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CLO pay-downs surge
The number of CLO pay-downs in JPMorgan's CLO index (CLOIE) since the June rebalance through 31 July was US$6.79bn in par outstanding, up dramatically from US$1.45bn the previous month. This was split between US$2.05bn and US$4.74bn of pre-crisis and post-crisis CLOs respectively.
The post-crisis CLOIE added US$4.4bn with 61 tranches across 11 deals at the June rebalance. Meanwhile, all CLOIE .......
News Round-up 2 August 2016
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Global development head hired
Tetragon subsidiary, LCM Asset Management, has brought in Chris D'Auria to run its global business development efforts. The firm says it will look to utilise his skills to expand its global outreach and tackle the changing regulatory landscape in CLOs.
D'Auria joins from Deutsche Bank, where he was md and co-head of the bank's global CLO business. His experience has seen .......
Job Swaps 2 August 2016
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Tightest CLO for nearly a year
Babson Capital has brought its latest US CLO to the market, with the senior tranche pricing at the tightest spreads seen since September last year. Babson CLO 2016-II's class A notes were registered at 145bp last Friday, coinciding with the ongoing rally in the market.
"Babson is a fairly sought after name in the market," says one US-based trader. "So in .......
News 2 August 2016
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Leveraged finance team recruited
Allen & Overy has hired a team of five New York-based leveraged finance partners. The team is led by Scott Zemser and includes Alan Rockwell, Rajani Gupta, Judah Frogel and Todd Koretzky.
Zemser, Rockwell and Frogel join from White & Case, while Gupta and Koretzky arrive from Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. The team will assist both domestically and internationally in .......
Job Swaps 1 August 2016