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2011年 夹层贷款的平均利率为14％，这种情况下，贷款方几乎没有弥补本金损失的空间。再2005－2007年前，夹层贷款的利率再18－20％之间。
Middle market: Mezzanine shops look to co-equity to fortify returns
Kelly Thompson, Contributor
With more capital than deals floating around in 2012, mezzanine investors are stumbling over themselves to book business. Mezz players also are facing heavy competition from banks, which are underwriting senior stretch once again, as well as unitranche providers, which like to tout their easy “one-stop shop” approach.
As a result, mezzanine shops have watched the free equity that comes with warrants melt away as sponsors pit investors against each other. Instead, mezzanine shops are juicing their returns with co-equity and are ponying up a portion of the check upfront.
“Warrants have not been around for a while, at least in sponsored deals,” said one Chicago-based banker. “Most mezz guys try to get 10-15% of the mezzanine amount in an equity co-invest,” he notes, or about $2-3 million of co-invest on a $20 million mezzanine ticket.
The co-equity component which sponsors prefer because it doesn’t dilute their ownership stake helps prop up spread compression in the mezzanine market as these lenders battle competition from all sides. That includes even the high-yield market, where last week Norbord, a business with $53 million in EBITDA, printed $165 million of senior secured notes at 6.25%. Granted, Norbord is an atypical bond deal, as the notes have a short three-year maturity.
Lenders say mezzanine spreads have fallen below 14% all-in, leaving funds little room for write-offs or principal loss. Prior to the senior lending boom in 2005-2007, mezzanine rates hovered closer to 18-20% all-in.
CEPRES, a European provider of private equity data, this month reports that 2011 pricing for mezzanine debt in North America averaged 11% cash-pay and 3% pay-in-kind, or 14% all-in, based on nearly 3,400 transactions. In 2010, the average was 10% cash-pay/3% PIK, the same level seen in 2007, the firm reports. 2011年夹层贷款的市场平均利率为14％
By comparison, pricing for middle-market institutional loans currently averages 7.8% all-in (L+585, 1.38% LIBOR floor, 98.5 issue price), with second-lien pricing ending 2011 at about 11.8%, according to LCD. Unitranche debt is being pitched at 8.5-11%, depending on the deal, bankers say.
“Mezz performs best in an active frothy market as a good replacement for equity,” notes another banker at a Chicago-based shop. But when deal flow can’t keep up with appetite, senior lenders end up gobbling more of the pie.
In May, senior debt accounted for the bulk of middle-market financing tracked by LCD, with senior leverage averaging 4x against a 4.3x total multiple. Compare that to a more difficult market two years ago, in May 2010, when senior lenders were extending just 3x leverage, on average, against a total multiple of 3.6x.
Despite recent stock volatility that has lifted spreads, market tone generally is viewed as strong. “The high-yield market is robust, and plenty of lenders have capital,” says one mezzanine lender.
Bankers say some new business is being pitched within the realm of 5x. In fact, the LBO financing for Henry Co. that launched last week features first-lien leverage of 3.6x and a total multiple of 4.9x through a second-lien term loan, according to sources. The second-lien is talked at L+900, with a 1.75% LIBOR floor and a to-be-determined OID.
Until liquidity begins to dry up again, mezz investors can expect to keep battling competitors from all angles at tight rates. Kelly Thompson
