Capital markets lawyers expected a modest surge in high-yield debt last year, but what they got was an absolute bonanza. Record-low interest rates and an onslaught of debt maturities in a market that had been somewhat inaccessible in recent years triggered a borrowing blitz in 2010. Offerings soared 80 percent, to 686 last year, as the total value of these issuances rose 85 percent, to $335.3 billion, according to Thomson Reuters. “We thought there would be an increase in high-yield offerings, but no one had the crystal ball to predict that 2010 would blow the doors off 2009,” says Arthur Robinson, a partner in Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s capital markets group.
Simpson Thacher maintained its position as top issuer’s counsel for high-yield debt, with 45 issues totaling $23.3 billion. The firm narrowly beat out runner-up Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom’s 36 offerings worth $23.1 billion.
