Wall Street Banks Sweeten Leveraged Loan Terms Amid Volatility

Wall Street banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley have made investor-friendly changes to some leveraged loan offerings, as uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s economic and regulatory policies roils global markets, Bloomberg reported.

Borrowers have had to offer bigger discounts on certain new loans to attract buyers, as prices in the secondary market dipped to 96.45 cents on the dollar, according to the Morningstar LSTA US Leveraged Loan Index, around the lowest levels since August. Investors have also yanked cash from funds that buy the risky debt, helping to accelerate price declines this month.

JPMorgan on Friday changed some covenants on a loan offering for Natgasoline and hiked the interest rate by 75 basis points to between 5.25 and 5.5 percentage points over the benchmark, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The pricing on the new loan was lowered to 97 cents on the dollar from 99 cents previously.

Commitments on the $525 million loan are now due Monday, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the deal is private.

A representative for JPMorgan, which is managing the transaction, declined to comment. A spokesperson for Natgasoline did not respond to a request for comment.

The loan will go toward refinancing other debt that is coming due later this year for the methanol production company.

“Methanol prices are very volatile and currently are above the mid-cycle long-term average due to a number of unplanned outages,” Moody’s Ratings analysts wrote in a note earlier this month affirming Natgasoline’s B3 corporate credit rating. “Slowing global growth and increased uncertainty due to tariffs imposed or planned by the US government raise concerns about methanol demand in the near-term.”

Adding Protections

Also on Friday, banks led by Morgan Stanley offered investor-friendly changes to documents for a $2.5 billion loan offering from Vista Equity’s Avalara Inc.

The changes included removing anti-cooperation language that prevents creditors from joining together in pacts to protect their interests, and adding a trio of protections known by the names of the companies that first deployed them: J Crew, Serta and Chewy. Those protections prevent companies from moving assets into different subsidiaries in ways that affect lender collateral.

In another sign of weakness, a group of banks led by Bank of America Corp. widened pricing and delayed the timing of a $2.4 billion loan for Level 3 Financing, a subsidiary of telecommunications company Lumen Technologies Inc.

Representatives for Morgan Stanley and Level 3 did not immediately provide comment, while those for Vista Equity and Bank of America declined to comment.

Several other deals have been pulled in the US and Europe in recent weeks.

Since Trump took office in January, he has made a series of policy decisions or proposals that have rattled markets including tariffs, immigration crackdowns and slashing the government workforce. Uncertainty about regulatory matters including Trump’s position on antitrust has also hindered deal activity that leveraged loans typically fuel.

As banks navigate market turmoil, private credit firms have been offering increasingly aggressive terms in an effort to win deals. Credit spreads on private loans are at historic lows, and private credit lenders are willing to add more leverage, offer payment-in-kind toggles, and accept dividend recapitalizations to stay competitive.