Equitycapital-raising activity in the investmentcompany sector slowed sharply on a sequential basis in the first quarterof 2016.
In theinvestment company space, the first quarter saw 17 common equity offerings raisea total of $143.4 million, compared to 26 offerings that raised a total of $2.10billion during the fourth quarter 2015. The average offering size declined to $8.4million in the first quarter from $80.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2015.
The largestcommon equity deal in the sector during the first quarter was TPG Specialty Lending Inc.'s $82.1 million common stock . 's Bank of America MerrillLynch, Barclays Capital Inc.,Citigroup Global Markets Inc.,Goldman Sachs & Co.and Wells Fargo Securities LLCall served as book managers on the offering.
Debt issuance activity also fell quarter over quarter in theinvestment company space. The first quarter saw 11 debt offerings, down from 32in the fourth quarter of 2015, and the average offering size fell to $997,600 from$11.9 million in the previous quarter.
led SNL's investmentcompany league table for the quarter based on deal credit. It earned deal creditfrom serving as a purchasing agent and placement agent on several and offerings.
Specialty finance
The totalnumber of debt offerings in the specialty finance sector declined to 151 in thefirst quarter from 185 in the previous quarter, but average deal size jumped to$205.4 million from $124.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2015.
took thetop spot in SNL's specialty finance debt offerings league table for the period afterworking on a number of large offerings during the quarter, including 's two $3.0 billion of , 's $2.50 billion of reference notes andtwo General Motors Financial Co. Inc.offerings of $1.50 billionand $1.25 billion.
BarclaysCapital, which ranked second, secured spots on several transactions during the quarter,including the Freddie and Fannie offerings, and two offeringsof Ford Motor Credit Co. LLCof $1.20 billion each.
Securities and investments
The securitiesand investments sector saw 41 debt offerings in the first quarter, up from 35 inthe previous quarter, but the average deal size declined to about $257.0 millionfrom $266.8 million.
tookthe top spot in SNL's securities and investments debt offerings table, based on deal credit, for thefirst quarter thanks to its participation in several senior debt offerings fromits parent Morgan Stanley.
Second-rankedGoldman Sachs & Co. worked on more than two dozen debt offerings during thequarter, all by its parent GoldmanSachs Group Inc.
The sectorsaw three preferred equity offerings in the period, compared to two offerings inthe fourth quarter of 2015. Goldman Sachs & Co. served as a book manager onits parent's $675.0 million preferred equity offering, while Bank of America Merrill Lynch earned dealcredit from working as book manager on preferred equity offerings by KKR& Co. LP and CharlesSchwab Corp.
Financial technology
The financialtechnology sector saw six common equity offerings during the first quarter, downfrom 16 in the previous quarter.
BofAMerrill Lynch, Credit Suisse (USA) Inc.,Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.,Goldman Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan Securities, RBC Capital Markets LLC and Wells Fargo Securitiesall served as book managerson the $447.0 millioncommon stock offeringof TransUnion.
The firstquarter saw six debt offerings, down from 18 in the fourth quarter of 2015, andthe average offering size fell to $758.3 million from $1.52 billion in the previousquarter.
J.P.Morgan Securities ranked first in SNL's financial technology debt offerings leaguetable for the period, after serving on two debt offeringsof $750 million each by Total SystemServices Inc. BofA Merrill Lynch, which ranked second, also served as book manager on these offerings.
SNL Financial is an offering ofS&P Global Market Intelligence.