Reuters Quotes Finance Partner on Growth of Unitranche Loans in Volatile Market

On May 25, an article published by Reuters quoted finance partner Stefanie Birkmann (New York) on the growth of unitranche loans in a volatile market. The article refers to how “[m]iddle market sponsors in the US and Europe are demanding bigger unitranche loans as the structure, which has typically been used for smaller deals, gains wider appeal due to challenging market conditions for second-lien loans in the US and heightened competition in Europe.”

It discusses how investors have pulled back from the second-lien market, leaving private equity sponsors and issuers with the option of going to alternative lenders to privately place the debt but found that the lenders were more interested in the unitranche structure.

Ms. Birkmann is quoted: “As the market contracted, equity sponsors were trying to privately place second-lien structure but got feedback from the alternative lenders that they were actually more interested in arranging unitranches so they could structure the overall yield properly.”