Companies seize opportunity to cut debt costs

摘要

Companies in the US loan market are eyeing an opportunity to slash borrowing costs on their debt facilities, as issuer-friendly credit markets enable issuers to refinance loans or reprice existing credits. Investors, buoyed by the development of vaccines to combat the coronavirus, injected a further US$59m into loan funds in the week leading up to December 30, the fourth consecutive week of inflows, according to Refinitiv Upper data. The inflows suggest market players are increasingly confident they can better assess credit investment opportunities throughout the pandemic and are preparing to put cash to work in the leveraged loan market. "We expect to see more in the form of repricings, refinancing and M&A [mergers and acquisitions]," said Anthony Diaz, a managing director and head of syndicated loan sales and trading at Antares Capital. "There is little sign of new issuance slowing down. The market is moving at a frenetic pace."