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This is our weekly newsletter on all things US leveraged finance, from the latest trends to in-depth coverage, to people moves. Explore all our market wraps here.

We’re a few days away from kicking off Spooky Season but the LevFin machine is already churning out deals at a scary pace.

Primary market leveraged loan deal volume hit $74.4bn on 25 September, making this the highest net issuance volume since March 2022, according to a JP Morgan research note. LBO loan volumes also reached new peaks with September deal volume at a 31-month high of $9.3bn and quarter-to-date volume of $19.3bn, the most since 1Q 2022, JPM data shows.

And after a seemingly endless stretch of refinancings and repricings, some first-time loan issuers are debuting. That’s a relief to investors itching to buy into new names.

"The theme is that new yield, not in a serial issue structure, has been well-received by a market looking for position diversity,” a portfolio manager said.

Some notable examples this week included loans to fund Golden State Foods’ buyout by Lindsay Goldberg, and Alaska Airlines’ merger with Hawaiian Airlines.

Banks led by BMO are syndicating a $1.005bn TLB due 2031 for Golden State’s LBO. Buysiders are weighing heavy customer concentration against generous pricing. We also covered the company’s auction in August.

Alaska Air, meanwhile, launched a $750m TLB via Bank of America as the company begins to combine businesses with Hawaiian Airlines. The merger got a rare nod of approval from federal regulators, while the loan is part of a $1.5bn debt package secured against Alaska Air’s customer loyalty program. Need to catch up on this credit? Check out the report we published after the merger announcement was made in December.

Across the pond, UK-based vehicle glass repair company Belron raised eyebrows when it launched a €6.25bn equivalent dual-tranche loan to refinance debt and pay out a jumbo €4.357bn distribution to shareholders. It’s also worth pointing out that this is the largest euro dividend deal on our database.

Back in the USA, Dave & Buster’s completed its third trip to the LevFin market in a two-year span despite caution around businesses with consumer spending exposure. This time, it refinanced debt with a $700m TLB due 2031 led by Deutsche Bank.

Though not as red-hot as leveraged loans, the high-yield primary market also saw some activity with deal volume hitting a four-month high of $33bn on 25 September, according to JPM data.

Of note is online furniture retailer Wayfair, which made its HY debut earlier this week via Goldman Sachs with $800m of senior secured notes due 2029 to pay off some of its convertible notes. Despite the company’s EBITDA losses, some sources following the deal expressed confidence that mortgage refinancings and home-related spending would pick up as the Federal Reserve makes interest rate cuts.

Pet products company Radio Systems Corporation (dba PetSafe Brands) also managed to price $775m of SSNs due 2029 this week even though pet-related spending is shrinking. But this issue isn’t just limited to PetSafe — we reported earlier this month that its peers PetSmart and PetCo Health both recorded declines in their second quarter earnings due to similar factors.

Elsewhere, we reported that Atlas SP Partners (the Apollo-owned former securitized products unit of Credit Suisse) is about to obtain a credit rating which could lead to bond market financing opportunities.

Looking ahead, supply could continue to increase as rate cuts make new LBO financings less scary for borrowers.

"The lower rates create a better return profile for private equity sponsors," said Alex Zeltser, a partner in Ropes & Gray's leveraged finance group. “As rates go down, we expect to see more appetite on the buyside and more sponsor-to-sponsor deals.”

Big corporate predators bolster global M&A market (Financial Times)

Private equity calls in experts to fix companies they can’t sell (Bloomberg)

Strange cellmates in a Brooklyn jail: Sean Combs and Sam Bankman-Fried (NYT)

What Wall Street’s women pioneers had to put up with (WSJ)

How companies are shifting to smarter, subtle messaging on ESG (Axios)

The fate of the finance bro (The New Yorker)

Bonus-starved bankers are jumping ship for private credit riches (Bloomberg)

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US LevFin Wrap — Lev loan volume spikes, Belron serves up juicy recap, Wayfair makes HY debut

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