Welcome to the Q4 2017 edition of the Addleshaw Goddard Corporate Borrower Update.
It has been a busy summer for our corporate banking team with a real uptick in corporate activity. Whilst so far this year it has been the leveraged market that has experienced most of the activity, this quarter has seen a shift in the balance. In the current environment of political uncertainty, businesses which appear to have been sitting on cash, seemed to have regained sufficient confidence in the market to pursue acquisitions and consider long term financial plans.
Whilst we typically see quieter levels of activity throughout the summer, this quarter seems to have proffered the perfect moment for borrower activity and a renewed "let's get on with it" attitude. The initial shock and uncertainty following the Brexit vote has passed and borrowers seem to be taking the view that we are sufficiently distanced from the ultimate implementation of Brexit. In our experience, this middle ground has provided ideal conditions for a flurry of corporate financings. It will be interesting to see whether the trend continues following the Prime Minister's announcement of a two year transition period, which may see Brexit delayed further.
Only time will tell how much of that activity will involve debt funding, who will provide that debt and what form it will take. This edition we look at an alternative to traditional bank debt and comment on a development which has ensured the continued incidence of longer term financial planning through the use of accordion or incremental facilities.
We do hope these articles are of interest – do not hesitate to contact any of the team if you would like to discuss (see page 4 onwards) or if there are topics which you would like us to tackle in future editions.
