Software loses its throne in the leveraged loan market
Key takeaways
- Software loses its throne in the leveraged loan market Marina Lukatsky Fri, June 5, 2026 at 10:43 PM GMT+7 6 min read Software’s two-decade run atop the leveraged lending market may be over, at least for now.
- Just 9% of all loans issued in the US broadly syndicated loan market this year (excluding repricings) have come from software companies, the lowest share since 2013 and roughly half the 2025 level.
- “This is a market of haves and have-nots, and software is among the have-nots,” says Engin Okaya, managing director at PGIM Credit.
Software loses its throne in the leveraged loan market Marina Lukatsky Fri, June 5, 2026 at 10:43 PM GMT+7 6 min read Software’s two-decade run atop the leveraged lending market may be over, at least for now.
Just 9% of all loans issued in the US broadly syndicated loan market this year (excluding repricings) have come from software companies, the lowest share since 2013 and roughly half the 2025 level. The pullback is even more striking within the PE-backed universe, where software’s share has collapsed to 9%, from 21% in 2025 and a 24% peak in 2020, when the sector was the undisputed darling of the Covid-era deal boom.
“This is a market of haves and have-nots, and software is among the have-nots,” says Engin Okaya, managing director at PGIM Credit. “Right now, you’re either getting really good execution given the amount of dry powder out there, or, if you have a more complicated business, or something that has a characteristic about it that the market doesn’t like, those deals are having a hard time getting done.”