The average number of lenders per syndicated loan (excluding clubs) in the Asia Pacific(ex-Japan) so far in 2020 has fallen from the same period last year, in tandem with a drop in average deal size, amid the COVID-19 disruption.

The average number of lenders declined to 7.5 sofar in 2020, from 9.7 in the same period last year, while the average deal size fell to USD 416m from USD 469m.

The number of highly participated syndicated-loan deals has also declined YTD in 2020. Only six syndicated deals closed YTD with25 or more lenders, compared with 19 completed in the same period last year with that number of debt providers.

However, some deals -- mainly from SoutheastAsian borrowers -- have garnered strong interest from lenders this year. Among the top 10 syndicated loans by the number of lenders involved in 2020 YTD, seven were from Southeast Asian names - four from Indonesia and one each from Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Indonesian automotive-financing company Adira Dinamika Multi Finance’s USD300m three-year loan and Thai conglomerate Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group’s USD 7.2bn-equivalent acquisition bridge attracted the most number of lenders in syndication YTD - 35 each. They have followed by Indonesian supermarket operator Trans Retail Indonesia’sEUR 593m and USD 90m five-year facility, which closed with 29 lenders.

CP Group’s loan and another Top 10 deal, Indonesian state-owned infrastructure-credit provider Sarana Multi Infrastruktur’s USD 700m three-year loan, had only been provisionally allocated towards the end of last month, as reported by Debtwire.

Jason Huang-Jones APAC Data Manager Debtwire