Syndicated lending in Europe, the Middle East and Africa totalled US$1.51trn in 2025, a 35.5% increase on the US$1.11trn raised in 2024 and the highest volume since 2007, according to LPC data.

Market volume was not derailed by president Trump's worldwide tariffs or persisting geopolitical risks and uncertainties, including conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

“Broadly, the market continues to perform quite well. Deals that came to the market were very well supported across the board,” a senior banker said.

Refinancing once again dominated the market making up 54% of volume with US$816.4bn of loans raised in 2025, a 37% increase on the US$598bn completed in 2024 as borrowers took advantage of competitive market conditions to refinance maturities.

“After the gyrations of this year, including ‘Liberation Day’, there was a lot of derisking across the region as companies pushed out near term maturities,” the banker said.

French train maker Alstom increased its committed guarantee facility to €15.35bn from €12.7bn at the beginning of April, while Swiss food giant Nestle completed the annual renewal of its revolving credit facilities in October, expanding the financing to €13bn-equivalent from €11bn.

In April, Volkswagen renewed its multicurrency RCF, increasing the financing to €12.5bn from €10bn, while in February, Italian utility Enel signed a €12bn sustainability-linked RCF that replaced its existing SLL from March 2021 and was subsequently amended to total €13.5bn, with a lower cost facility.

French family-owned dairy group Lactalis completed a €10.5bn refinancing in March, including €8bn of term loans, the largest non-event driven euro term loan raised over the last 10 years.

Meanwhile, German technology company Siemens Energy raised a €9bn syndicated loan in June to replace an €11bn German federal government-backed guarantee facility and €1bn facility backed by Siemens AG.

Big, new money

Sizeable new money financings were also seen, including a €12bn revolving credit facility for Dutch state-owned power grid operator TenneT’s German unit completed in October. The RCF was the first step to a stand-alone financing structure after the Dutch government agreed to sell 46% of TenneT Germany to a consortium of three institutional investors.

Elsewhere, the demerger of The Magnum Ice Cream Co from Unilever was backed with €5bn of loans placed in August.

However, M&A financing disappointed, falling 11% to US$167bn in 2025 from US$188bn in 2024 as an expected uptick in large-scale acquisitions failed to materialise in an uncertain environment.

“M&A was really underwhelming. ‘Liberation Day’ set people on the back foot with respect to some of their strategic initiatives, which had a corresponding effect on acquisition financing,” said the banker.

Highlights were few and far between. Schneider Electric backed its €5.5bn cash acquisition of the remaining 35% stake in Schneider Electric India with a €5.48bn bridge loan in July, while French IT services firm Capgemini financed its US$3.3bn acquisition of India-based technology outsourcing company WNS with a €4bn bridge loan in the same month.

In September, Ferrero closed a US$3.1bn-equivalent bridge financing backing its acquisition of breakfast cereal maker WK Kellogg.

“Absent another shock event, I think the spring on M&A is very well coiled for 2026,” the banker said.

Lending to the Middle East rose 34% to US$110.8bn as borrowers continued to tap the global loan market to back infrastructure projects and economic diversification.

Loan issuance in the region was bookended by two jumbo financings.

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund completed a US$7bn debut murabaha credit facility in January as part of its medium-term capital raising strategy, while Abu Dhabi National Oil Co, in partnership with Eni and PTT Exploration and Production, secured an up to US$11bn pre-export style loan in December to monetise its Hail and Ghasha’s midstream future gas production.

Leveraged high on refi

European leveraged loan issuance reached over US$442bn in 2025, the highest volume on record, with nearly 90% of the annual total dominated by refinancing and repricing transactions, reflecting borrowers’ efforts to cut interest costs and push out their maturities after a period of elevated rates and volatile markets.

The volume of leveraged buyout loans rose to US$51.8bn in 2025, the highest since 2021, and bankers are hopeful of a full-on M&A revival in 2026.

“Our list of potential M&A deals is the longest it has been for the last few years,” said a leveraged finance banker.

Over the course of the last quarter of 2025, market bifurcation was the major theme, with weaker credits and sector-specific concerns – particularly around chemicals – rattling some investors.

Portuguese agrochemicals company Rovensa (B3/B–/B–) stood out as one of the few lower-rated issuers that was able to secure a refinancing, albeit the exercise was not straightforward. It wrapped a €1.028bn term loan B in October with a margin of 500bp over Euribor and 97 OID, after pulling a similar transaction in March that had been marketed at 425bp–450bp over Euribor and a 99.75 OID.

Not all chemicals issuers were so fortunate. Dutch manufacturer Nouryon (B2/B+/B+) dropped a planned amend and extend exercise in October due to weaker sentiment.

Elsewhere, new money transactions in stronger sectors were lapped up by investors. French medical diagnostics company Sebia finalised an increased dual-currency TLB to fund its acquisition by a consortium led by Warburg Pincus and Italian tech conglomerate Bending Spoons wrapped a dual-currency loan TLB to finance the acquisitions of AOL, Vimeo and Eventbrite.

Looking ahead, the bulging M&A pipeline is already beginning to deliver.

Diagnostic and medical imaging company Hologic launched US$7bn in dollar and euro term loans backing its buyout, while Finastra TCM is also in market with a dual-currency TLB backing Apax Partners' acquisition of the treasury and capital markets unit from UK software company Finastra Group.

More cross-border deals, including the financing backing the US$55bn buyout of video game maker Electronic Arts, are expected to come at the end of the first quarter, as is the debt financing backing the acquisition of packaging company Sealed Air.

More euro-focused trades could come from the €3bn financing package backing media group Banijay’s cash acquisition of a majority stake in German betting firm Tipico from CVC.

Buyout deals for Spanish private education institution UAX and UK-based Smiths Detection, known for its baggage-screening kit in airports and explosive detectors, should also materialise. Looking further ahead, the around €4bn package to back the acquisition of a majority stake in German chemicals company BASF Coatings by The Carlyle Group and Qatar Investment Authority should also hit syndication in April.

BNP Paribas once again topped the EMEA syndicated loan bookrunner league table with a US$72.4bn market share and 288 deals. Credit Agricole CIB was second with US$55.1bn and 221 deals, while UniCredit was third with US$45.6bn and 181 deals.

Source: IFR