Leveraged loan meaning

Links to useful intercreditor materials This table sets out the principal checks a junior lender should make when assessing a simple intercreditor agreement between senior secured lenders, junior secured lenders and unsecured subordinated creditors. It is designed for readers with limited familiarity with intercreditor arrangements. The table highlights the core, commonly encountered points in a straightforward secured bilateral corporate loan and does not attempt to capture every potential negotiation issue, nor matters arising in specialist or more complex deals such as those in the leverage finance market. What is reasonable will vary with the nature of the transaction, the identity of the lender and the parties’ relative bargaining power. For specialist intercreditor topics, see the materials referenced below... Introductory materials Practice Note: Introductory guide to Intercreditor Agreements, covering typical provisions found in intercreditor agreements. Practice Note: How to draft and negotiate intercreditor arrangements in loan transactions, offering introductory guidance on drafting and negotiation. Precedent: Intercreditor deed-single company, a precedent suitable for a straightforward...

In this issue: Sustainable finance and ESG round–up Lending Security Sustainable finance Debt capital markets Derivatives Structured products and securitisation Regulation for derivatives lawyers Restructuring Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Useful information Sustainable finance and ESG round–up Sustainable finance and ESG weekly round–up Sustainable finance and ESG round–up Sustainable finance and ESG weekly round–up For a summary of this week’s Sustainable finance and ESG developments, see: Sustainable finance and ESG weekly round–up—18 April 2024. Lending LMA publishes guidance on primary delayed settlement compensation The Loan Market Association (LMA) has issued guidance on primary delayed settlement compensation, setting out a suggested timetable for stages in the syndication process and embedding fault-based delayed settlement compensation. The note aims to reconcile the differing priorities of stakeholders involved in syndication. See: LNB News 17/04/2024 68. Source: LMA issues Primary Delayed Settlement Compensation Guidelines to promote efficiency...

In this issue: Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 Lending Acquisition finance Islamic finance Real estate finance Sustainable finance Debt capital markets Derivatives Regulation for derivatives lawyers Technology in banking and finance transactions Sanctions Daily and weekly news alerts Useful information Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 The Law Society of England and Wales has released advice for legal advisers on actions they might take when telling Companies House that a person’s identity has been confirmed under the Companies Act 2006, following changes arising from the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. See: LNB News 25/02/2026 18. Source: Confirming identity verification to Companies House as a solicitor. Lending The Loan Market Association (LMA) has issued a revised Borrowing Base Facility Agreement and accompanying User Guide to capture shifts in prevailing market practice...

In this issue: Banking & Finance case round-up Acquisition finance Sustainable finance Real estate finance Sanctions Daily and weekly news alerts Useful information Banking & Finance case round-up Banking & Finance—August and September 2025 case round-up. For an outline of the cases we have flagged in Banking & Finance during August and September 2025, see News Analysis: Banking & Finance—August and September 2025 case round-up. Acquisition finance AFME issues European high yield and leveraged loan report for Q2 2025. The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has released its European High Yield and Leveraged Loan Report for Q2 2025, offering an overview of issuance patterns and credit performance across the high yield and leveraged loan markets. See: LNB News 26/09/2025 35. Source: AFME Q2 2025 European High Yield and Leveraged Loan Report. Sustainable finance GFI and Climate Bonds unveil the Global Property Linked Finance Initiative. The Green Finance Institute (GFI) and the...

This Practice Note looks at Term Loan B (TLB) facilities, which often feature as a senior tranche within syndicated loans in leveraged financings. TLBs are long-established in the US market and are increasingly seen in the European lending market for institutional investors. It examines the structure of a typical TLB and how it diverges from traditional European leveraged loans, before setting out the key features. This Practice Note assumes some understanding of leveraged finance. For introductory information, see: Introductory guide to acquisition finance. For explanations of common terms, see Practice Note: Glossary of acquisition finance terms and jargon. What is a Term Loan B? In lending markets, ‘Term Loan B’ or ‘TLB’ (short for Term Loan Bullet) describes a tranche of senior secured credit facilities made available to a borrower and intended to be syndicated in the institutional loan market. They are usually floating-rate term facilities with an actual or implied non-investment grade rating, a five to seven year maturity and either nominal amortisation of 1% per annum...

This Practice Note offers high-level guidance on debt buy-backs within loan documentation. It first outlines what constitutes a debt buy-back, then considers the issues that may emerge, and sets out how the Loan Market Association (LMA) addresses buy-backs in its standard form documents. For fuller analysis, including structuring points, see Article: Structuring loan buybacks—(2021) 5 JIBFL 337. Buy-backs can relate to loans or bonds; however, this Practice Note addresses loan buy-backs only. For material on bond buy-backs, see Article: and the weakening of bondholder protection (2020) 5 JIBFL 310. What is a debt buy-back? In a lending context, a debt buy-back typically means the acquisition of existing debt in the secondary market by a sponsor (or a sponsor affiliate) or by a company within the borrower group in a sponsor-controlled leveraged credit...

Timing Loan transactions usually begin with the term sheet (also called heads of terms) alongside the mandate stage. In this early phase, the parties put confidentiality arrangements in place, settle the key deal terms, and clarify their respective roles. The duration of this stage can shift markedly, shaped by the deal’s nature and complexity. The level of detail in a term sheet also differs: sometimes it records only the principal commercial points, with matters such as representations and undertakings noted only briefly (eg ‘usual representations’). In other cases—particularly for specialist deals like leveraged finance—it can be highly detailed. Reaching agreement on a thorough term sheet at the outset can trim later time and cost when negotiating the loan and security documents. What happens during this stage of the transaction? The parties exchange confidential information At the very outset of a prospective deal, the parties seek to share information considered confidential and sensitive to decide whether to proceed with a potential transaction or relationship. To manage and...

£ [ insert number ] [ insert rate ]% convertible [ subordinated ] redeemable loan notes 20[ insert year ] [ insert name of issuer ] Dated [ insert day and month ] 20[ insert year ] Parties [ Insert name of issuing company ], incorporated in England and Wales under number [ insert company number ], whose registered office is at [ insert address ] (the Issuer) Background The Issuer has determined to create up to a maximum nominal amount of £[ insert number ] [ insert rate ]% convertible [ subordinated ] redeemable loan notes, to be constituted as set out in this document...

[ On the Investor’s letterhead ] Strictly private and confidential [ insert company name ] [ insert company address ] [ insert Founder names ] [ insert contact address of Founders ] ( Founders ) Date: [ insert date ] SUBJECT TO CONTRACT Dear Directors and Founders, Proposed investment in [ insert name and registered number of company ] ( Company ) 1 Introduction 1.1 Following our recent conversations, this letter outlines the key terms and conditions on which we have agreed to make an additional investment in the Company ( Proposed Investment ). 1.2 The provisions in this letter are not comprehensive and, save for this paragraph 1.2 and paragraphs 8, 9, 10 and 11, are subject to contract and are not intended to be legally binding on the parties. No party to this letter shall be legally bound to proceed with the Proposed Investment unless and until a formal written subscription [ and shareholders’...

[ On the Investor’s letterhead ] Strictly private and confidential [ insert company name ] [ insert company address ] [ insert Founder names ] [ insert contact address of Founders ] (Founders) Date: [ insert date ] SUBJECT TO CONTRACT Dear Directors and Founders, Proposed investment in [ insert name and registered number of company ] (Company) 1 Introduction 1.1 Further to our recent discussions, this letter describes the principal terms and conditions upon, and subject to, which we have agreed to make an investment in the Company as set out herein (Proposed Investment). 1.2 The provisions of this letter are not comprehensive and, save for this paragraph 1.2 and paragraphs 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16, are subject to contract and are not intended to create legally binding obligations between the parties. No party to this letter will be bound to proceed with the Proposed Investment unless and until a formal written subscription and shareholders’ agreement...