Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) has published its first annual league table for private placement deals in Europe, created in collaboration with Private Placement Monitor (PPM).
The table shows that almost EUR7 billion was raised in private capital for European companies in the last year, through 87 deals. And although French private placements continue to dominate, the market is becoming more pan-European with 47% of the deals coming from other countries.
"ICMA welcomes the publication of this survey by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services and PPM, which estimates that the growing pan-European private placement market, including direct transactions, raised almost EUR7 billion in 2014 especially for medium-sized European companies. We will continue to support the development of this market through the work of the Pan-European Joint Committee that recently published the Pan-European Private Placement Guide that is facilitating the market's standardisation," says Nicholas Pfaff, Senior Director, Market Practice and Regulatory Policy, International Capital Market Association (ICMA).
Overall, in volume terms, private placement markets for European issuers – including the US private placement market and the German Schuldschein market – have remained solid over the past few years, totalling roughly EUR31 billion of issuance in 2014 (of which EUR6.4 billion were European private placements–excluding direct deals not using an agent – EUR11 billion were Schuldschein deals, and EUR13 billion USPP). We expect it to stabilise at this level in 2015.
"Private lending markets in Europe have developed by leaps and bounds over the past year. By providing capital access to mid-market companies, these markets are an important driver for growth in the region, but much needs to be done to increase transparency in these traditionally opaque markets. Without this transparency and comparability of credit risk, establishing a healthy alternative funding market for European midsize companies, and one which will attract investors, will prove much more difficult," says Standard & Poor's primary credit analyst Alexandra Krief.