EMEA sluggish as volatility bites

摘要

Continued market volatility and the growing impact of bank regulations have contributed to a sluggish start to the year in the EMEA syndicated loan market as M&A activity remains patchy and the refinancing pipeline dries up. Just US$43bn of investment-grade loans have been completed in EMEA so far this year, down from US$67bn at the same time last year, according to Thomson Reuters LPC data. Apart from the US$18bn bridge loan backing Dublin-based rare disease drugmaker shire's US$32bn merger with Baxalta, and an upcoming US$20bn bridge backing ChemChina's acquisition of Swiss seeds and pesticides company syncenta, the wave of big-ticket M&A financings seen towards the end of last year has not been sustained into 2016.