Banks and Private Credit Cash Light Up Deal Competition

The combined power of a reinvigorated public-debt market and cash-rich private lenders has fired up competition on pricing and terms across the direct-lending landscape, according to a new study from Lincoln International, an investment banking advisory firm.

Banks are now competing with private credit firms for some of the biggest deals on Wall Street. This month, banks swayed Ardonagh Group Ltd. to divert nearly half of a $5 billion financing away from private lenders. Both public and private debt providers on Wall Street have held talks to fund the potential acquisition of DocuSign Inc. with a $8 billion loan ...