Lending to U.S. mid-sized companies is poised to increase in the second half of 2016 as lenders report a growing pipeline of M&A deals and expectations for a push ahead of the U.S. election, market participants told Thomson Reuters LPC.
After two dismal consecutive quarters this year amounting to a total of U.S.$52.74 billion — the lowest first half volume since 2009, and the fourth lowest first half since the turn of the century — lenders and investors that provide debt capital to middle-market companies are confident that the tide is turning, notes Reuters.
The Reuters article also noted that this comes as welcome news for deal-starved investors eager to put money to work in a crowded and highly competitive lender field that has been characterized by a significant supply-demand imbalance so far this year.
Even as Britain voted in favor of leaving the European Union, roiling global financial markets and introducing a new element of economic and political uncertainty, the U.S. middle market — seen widely as being well insulated from the tumult because of its primarily domestic focus—was unphased.
See the entire Reuters article: U.S. middle market lending poised to strengthen in second half