Four Emerging Lessons from COVID-19 for North American Private Debt
NEW YORK, April 24, 2020 – Head of Origination & Capital Markets Randy Schwimmer discusses What Lessons Are Emerging as a Result of COVID-19 in Preqin's Special Report...
Churchill Asset Management in the News
Private Credit Weighs Risks and Opportunities in Market Turmoil
NEW YORK, March 17, 2020 – Firms that don’t have fresh capital available to deploy, especially smaller, newer ones, could be especially vulnerable, said Ken Kencel, president and chief executive of midmarket private credit firm Churchill Asset Management....
Private Credit Comes of Age
NEW YORK, August 4, 2016 – At a loan conference some years ago we referred to middle market loans as the Rodney Dangerfield of capital markets. These small, illiquid instruments were the poor step-child to high-yield bonds and large leveraged loans. But at Creditflux’s inaugural New York conference on private credit last month, it was clear the situation has changed.
What a Downturn Might Mean for Private Credit
NEW YORK, June 2, 2016 – Where are we in the cycle?” That question gets asked at every conference we attend. It’s also clearly on the mind now of every investor, arranger and issuer of debt. The reason is clear: if we are in the seventh innings of the cycle (which seems the consensus), a downturn might be around the corner.
Where Europe’s Real Direct Lending Opportunity Lies
NEW YORK, April 1, 2016 – Against the backdrop of uncertain credit markets and directionally differing economies, an interesting cross-Atlantic investment dynamic is underway.
Sponsors Holster Revolvers for Delayed-Draw Loans
NEW YORK, January 4, 2016 – I’ve discussed at length the development of revolving credit facilities. Corporate borrowers and private equity sponsors have continued to utilise this tool to maximise flexibility for acquisitions, dividend recaps and working capital. But during 2015 we’ve noted the increasing popularity of another weapon in an issuer’s financing arsenal: namely, the delayed-draw term loan (DDTL).
The Mid Market and The Myth of Loan Liquidity
NEW YORK, December 3, 2015 – One of the enduring fictions about middle market loans relates to their tradability. Smaller loans, the theory goes, are priced at a premium because there are fewer ready buyers. Unlike their broadly syndicated cousins, loans below $250 million have no effective secondary market. That’s the idea, anyway.
Don’t Listen to the Talk, Mezz Definitely Isn’t Dead
NEW YORK, November 5, 2015 – These days it’s popular sport at loan conferences to kick the mezzanine asset class. After the credit crisis, when some investors in subordinated debt took a licking, the common question heard among market players was: “Is mezz dead?” Today the refrain is: “Is mezz still dead?” And yet, in conversations with practitioners, it seems mezz is alive and well.
Mid-Market Syndicate Game Changes Again
NEW YORK, October 8, 2015 – When your correspondent began distributing middle market loans (in the waning days of the Reagan administration), the concept was considered novel. Back then money-centre banks underwrote and syndicated mainly large corporate loans to other relationship banks. Smaller deals were mostly self-arranged, club affairs among regional banks and finance companies.
Hold Your Nose and Buy the Recap – Sometimes
NEW YORK, August 6, 2015 – It’s a perennial source of angst for loan buyers that target private equity-backed companies: how do you analyse transactions that finance a distribution to the sponsor by taking invested cash out of the company?