Financial stimulus and sustained investor appetite for yield have seen US CLO issuance scale record heights  

Large double-digit gains in US loan issuance meant leveraged finance markets ended 2021 with a bang and set the stage for robust activity in 2022  

Issuers are tapping institutional loan markets for add-on debt at a rapid pace as private equity firms turn to buy-and-build strategies to lower entry multiples and accelerate deployment  

Following a year of healthy activity, M&A deals in the pipeline are set to sustain leveraged finance issuance in the pharmaceutical, medical and biotech sector in the months ahead.

US M&A had an extraordinary year in 2021, with total deal value reaching US$2.6 trillion—surpassing US$2 trillion for the first time

The data White & Case gathered from 58 of the most active merger control jurisdictions globally reveals trends and insights that can't be gleaned from data on single jurisdictions considered in isolation.

Expanded jurisdiction, mandatory filings and a substantially increased pursuit of non-notified transactions have changed the landscape 

Intense competition to deliver on-demand content accelerates dealmaking in the sector

Investors eager to maintain high levels of capital deployment have kept terms and pricing highly flexible for bond and loan issuers, but that does not mean easy access for borrowers—lenders are still pushing back against credits that fall short of the quality bar

Reopening economies have transformed the credit landscape with ratings upgrades rising sharply through the year, after 2020 recorded the highest number of downgrades in more than two decades.

The rise in sustainability-linked debt issuance observed in 2021 has shown little sign of slowing down as borrowers continue to focus on improving ESG performance in response to investor demand.

In a rapidly maturing SPAC market, sponsors are more frequently turning to debt financing tools to fund deals