Latest news with #MattDouglass
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lima council hears police report, shares electric aggregation information
Apr. 21—LIMA — Lima Police Lieutenant Matt Douglass reported that officers in the city responded to 82,000 calls in 2024 and shared information on what contributed to their effectiveness at Monday night's Lima City Council meeting. Council members praised the department for the report and asked questions about recruitment and usage of technology. "Downtown cameras have been a great improvement," Douglass said. "They've been instrumental in solving crimes, and we also have drones in the air now." Councilwoman Jeanine Jordan asked Douglass how the department avoids violating privacy with the technology. "We have a policy to make sure we are not violating the Fourth Amendment, and we are documenting when we use those drones," Douglass said. Councilman Derry Glenn asked for an update on the department's recruiting efforts after Douglass touted new officers for bringing a fresh perspective to the force. "We put a lot of work into the recruitment team," Douglass added. "And they spend a lot of time out in the community." The city also shared new details on the continuation of the electric aggregation program after residents were made aware the city's contract with Dynegy would be ending May 1. A letter available through the Ohio Public Utilities Commission on Friday, April 18 showed that the city agreed to a new contract with Archer Energy, something the city announced after the meeting. "Beginning with June billing, the program will be under the new contract," Lima finance director Meri Foster said. "And it stays the same. You won't see a difference except for the changing rate for supply." The new fixed rate for the program will amount to $0.0945 per kWh, which marks a 20 percent increase. A consultant from Trebel Energy told council at its previous meeting how rates for all customers would be increasing due to demand outpacing supply as soon as June of this year. In a statement, the city said it chose to lock in base energy rates now due to the uncertainty of future capacity rates. Foster said the rate would remain lower than AEP rates. "I think it's important to understand that electricity is going up overall," she said. "In total, the aggregation is still going to save money." The letter notifies residents that enrollment is automatic, and if they choose to opt-out of the program, they can send an attached form back to the city. Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399. Featured Local Savings
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Private Credit Firms Are Pushing Boundaries to Win Large Deals
(Bloomberg) -- Private credit funds are grinding down margins and cranking up leverage to win business over their liquid peers, as trade wars and geopolitical uncertainty suppress corporate deals. New York Subway Ditches MetroCard After 32 Years for Tap-And-Go Amtrak CEO Departs Amid Threats of a Transit Funding Pullback Despite Cost-Cutting Moves, Trump Plans to Remake DC in His Style LA Faces $1 Billion Budget Hole, Warns of Thousands of Layoffs NYC Plans for Flood Protection Without Federal Funds Credit spreads are among the tightest they've ever been for the industry's best borrowers, with private loans recently pricing as low as 4.5 percentage points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate in the US, and 4.75 percentage points over Euribor in Europe. Meanwhile, hopes that the Trump administration would bring a renewal in mergers and acquisitions haven't yet materialized. 'Spreads are in across the board this past year as private credit managers continue to replace bank financing in increasing scale, especially for higher leveraged, larger credits,' Matt Douglass, chief executive of PGIM Private Capital, told Bloomberg News. Take the financing for Clearlake Capital Group's purchase of Modernizing Medicine this month. Private credit funds led by Ares Management Corp. agreed to provide $2.2 billion of debt to support the acquisition. The deal priced at 4.75 percentage points over the US benchmark rate, while leverage was between eight and 10 times, people with knowledge of the matter said. Private credit deals generally offer a premium on spread for illiquidity. But the availability of capital has driven down spreads from peak underwriting times. Average direct lending spreads were as high as 675 basis points over the Secured Overnight Finance Rate in March of 2023, according to a J.P. Morgan report from February. This January, according to J.P. Morgan's and KBRA DLD's data, average spreads were 500 basis points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate. All options are on the table for private credit lenders. Often, they're willing to add more leverage, offer payment-in-kind toggles to allow borrowers to defer cash interest payments and accept dividend recapitalizations. Leverage can stretch to eight times debt-to-earnings, and for some deals, above 10. Terms have loosened, too, with more lenders accepting a lack of maintenance covenants and generous definitions of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. 'Deal flow is improving, but it does, admittedly, remain below normal,' said Bill Sacher, the head of private credit at Adams Street Partners. 'There is a supply and demand imbalance and as a result when you are trying not to lose the asset, that creates an elevated level of competition.' For more coverage of private markets, subscribe to the Going Private Newsletter As spreads have compressed, companies that scored debt in peak-rate markets have been eager to bring down their cost of capital. Up until recently, syndicated loan markets have been wide open, offering cheaper pricing and taking back credits once snatched by private debt players. Deals for companies including Finastra Group Holdings Ltd., Kaseya Inc. and Avalara Inc. once signaled the strength and permanence of the private credit industry. But these firms are now looking to the banks to refinance their loans in the traded debt markets. Denise Gibson, UK managing partner at law firm A&O Shearman, told Bloomberg News that an attractive company that's focused on driving down its cost of debt would take the broadly-syndicated route over the private credit option. But 'with the market uncertainties that we are all facing we are most certainly in a world where sponsors are keeping their trusted private debt funds on speed dial,' she said. Tariff Impacts One current reprieve for private credit: the performance of the leveraged-loan market, its key competitor. Several deals have been pulled from the syndicated markets in the US and Europe in recent weeks, as investors have grown concerned about the uncertainty brought about by tariffs. That unease helped private lenders take pole position in the battle for a €6.25 billion ($6.8 billion) loan for online classifieds company Adevinta ASA. The deal is set to reduce the cost of existing debt and tack on more leverage to help pay a dividend to its private equity owners Blackstone Inc. and Permira. To clinch the deal, private credit lenders are looking to shave one percentage point off the unitranche loan, for a new price of 4.75 percentage points over the European benchmark rate. 'You would've expected there to be a relatively healthy market and sufficient deal flow given the buyside demand and receptive debt markets, but what may have nipped this resumption of deal flow in the bud is the uncertainty created with tariffs, geopolitical risks, etc. — it doesn't feel like you're on solid ground at the moment,' said Adams Street's Sacher. With the volatility, broadly syndicated investors are showing they're pickier about which deals to buy into. But private credit lenders have shown they're willing to extend debt to companies that banks have passed on financing and ones with lower ratings. In part, that's because direct lenders face pressure to deploy capital. 'The amount of dry powder that has been raised in the private credit market, and resulting competition for large deals, means that private lenders are reaching in credit quality to avoid spread compression on an absolute basis and relative to the broadly syndicated market,' said Scott Macklin, the head of US leveraged finance at Obra Capital Inc. Deals Ares Management Corp. approached at least two banks in recent weeks to purchase their holdings of debt issued by Hong Kong developer New World Development Co. A Singapore operating entity of Australian data center firm Firmus Technologies is seeking a $120 million private loan to fund its capital expenditure Blue Owl Capital Inc. agreed to fund as much as $5 billion of personal loans made by online lender SoFi Technologies Inc. The direct lending arms of Arcmont and Park Square, as well as bank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., are providing a debt package for Charterhouse's purchase of French fire-safety specialist Estya HPS Investment Partners provided a $225 million debt package to industrial service provider Team Inc. Citigroup Inc. and Apollo Global Management Inc. are offering potential buyers of Boeing Co.'s Jeppesen navigation unit the option to fund the acquisition through the pair's nascent private credit partnership Italy's Strada dei Parchi SpA borrowed some €300 million of private debt from King Street Capital Management and Farallon Capital Management A group of private credit funds has given binding commitments to India's Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which is raising as much as $3.3 billion in what could be the country's biggest private credit deal Founders of Indian clean energy producer Greenko Energy Holdings have received commitments from at least five lenders as they seek an $800 million private credit loan for a stake purchase in the firm Fundraising Lincoln Financial Group, a provider of annuities and retirement products, is partnering with Bain Capital and Partners Group to launch two new private markets-focused funds later this year Job Moves Atlas Merchant Capital's chief investment officer of credit, Ty Wallach, has left the firm Fintech firm Iconicchain is hiring Banco Santander SA's former head of private debt mobilization, Steven Gandy, to steer its planned expansion into the US market Did You Miss? CVC Is Said to Be Interested in Buying Mubadala-Backed Fortress DWS CEO Turns to Old Deutsche Bank Boss for Private Debt Fix More Private Loan Repricings Until M&A Picks Up, PitchBook Says Zips Car Wash to Repay 75% of Private Loan Once Valued Near Par Deutsche Bank to Let DWS Take First Pick on Credit Deals Private Markets Lure Insurers to Niche Credit Bets, Nuveen Says Private Credit ETF Trips Up State Street Bid to Be Exciting 'Insurance Renaissance' Is Fueling Private Credit Surge, Says AB State Street Private-Debt ETF Gets Just $5 Million in New Flows --With assistance from Rene Ismail. A New 'China Shock' Is Destroying Jobs Around the World Tesla's Gamble on MAGA Customers Won't Work How TD Became America's Most Convenient Bank for Money Launderers The Real Reason Trump Is Pushing 'Buy American' The Future of Higher Ed Is in Austin ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
PGIM Private Capital Provides $14.9B of Senior Debt and Junior Capital Globally in 2024
CHICAGO, March 03, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PGIM Private Capital provided $14.9 billion of senior debt and junior capital to more than 238 middle-market companies and projects globally in 2024. PGIM Private Capital is a leading source of private debt for public and private companies and is the private capital arm of PGIM, the $1.38 trillion global management business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU). Matt Douglass, senior managing director and head of PGIM Private Capital, commented: "The pace of originations was strong throughout 2024, surpassing the previous year, and represents the continued demand from a wide range of middle-market companies and projects for private credit solutions. "We expect 2025 to be another busy year for originations with borrowers continuing to value our collaborative approach as we strive for certainty of execution against an ambiguous economic and uncertain geopolitical backdrop." Highlights: $10.5 billion of investment-grade investments, $3.9 billion of below-investment-grade investments, and $574 million of mezzanine and private equity investments. 116 new issuers across a range of industries added to the portfolio, and 122 existing borrower companies returned for further funding. $10.1 billion in Corporate investments across North America, the U.K., Europe, Latin America, and Australia. $4.7 billion in real assets sectors, including energy, power, infrastructure, and credit tenant lease financing. Over $2.5 billion in direct lending transactions, across 60 transactions. PGIM Private Capital's Direct Lending platform continues to expand, maintaining strong origination activity globally. With a presence across the U.S., Europe, and Australia, the platform has reliably deployed capital, cultivating a variety of sponsored and non-sponsored relationships. Additionally, in 2024, the Real Assets platform originated $3.1 billion in energy and power transactions, $1.2 billion in infrastructure investments, and $381 million in credit tenant lease transactions. Key Transactions: The financing of Hudson Valley Parking Trust's acquisition of ICON Parking, the largest parking operator in New York City. The first U.S. Private Placement transaction with Rubis Energie, a global leader in energy and bitumen distribution operating across 40 countries in Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. PGIM Private Capital is one of the largest global private capital providers, investing in private debt and equity for 100 years. Through a patient relationship-based approach and cross-border financing experience with local market knowledge, the global team has committed capital through market cycles to help investors improve portfolio outcomes. ABOUT PGIM PRIVATE CAPITAL PGIM Private Capital manages a $106.6 billion portfolio of private placements, mezzanine, and direct lending investments through its regional office network (Atlanta; Chicago; Dallas; Frankfurt, Germany; London; Los Angeles; Madrid; Mexico City1; Milan; Minneapolis; Newark, New Jersey; New York; Paris; San Francisco; and Sydney2) and purchases up to $16 billion annually in predominantly senior debt and junior capital. PGIM Private Capital manages more than $20 billion in outside non-affiliated assets through its Institutional Asset Management unit and Alternative Investments unit, comprising Direct Lending, PGIM Capital Partners, and PGIM Energy Partners mezzanine funds. All data as of Dec. 31, 2024. For more information please visit ABOUT PGIM PGIM is the global asset management business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU). In 41 offices across 19 countries, our more than 1,450 investment professionals serve both retail and institutional clients around the world. As a leading global asset manager, with $1.38 trillion in assets under management,3 PGIM is built on a foundation of strength, stability, and disciplined risk management. Our multi-affiliate model allows us to deliver specialized knowledge across key asset classes with a focused investment approach. This gives our clients a diversified suite of investment strategies and solutions with global depth and scale across public and private asset classes, including fixed income, equities, real estate, private credit, and other alternatives. For more information visit Prudential Financial, Inc. (PFI) of the United States is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential plc, incorporated in the United Kingdom, or with Prudential Assurance Company, a subsidiary of M&G plc, incorporated in the United Kingdom. For more information please visit Visit Follow on LinkedIn 1 The Mexico City office operates through PGIM Real Estate Mexico S.C.2 The Sydney office operates through PGIM (Australia) Pty Ltd.3 As of Dec. 31, 2024. View source version on Contacts Guy Nicholls +1 973 204
