Borrowers Flood Loan Market Again and Bring Riskier Deals

A flood of issuance is continuing in the market for junk-rated debt and borrowers are taking advantage of a starved investor base to bring riskier deals, including for dividends and leveraged buyouts.

Roughly $53.9 billion of deals have launched in the leveraged loan market so far this month, with 15 coming on Monday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The high-yield bond market has also priced $7.6 billion of issuance so far this month.

Deals have included double-digit yields on a dividend for shareholders from snack maker Shearer’s Foods and the return of J.Crew to the market where it pioneered ...