• Software names like Imprivata, Proofpoint return to market
• Galaxy Digital data center paper prices with 10% yield
• CoreWeave seeks USD 2.6bn term loan

EnergySolutions and FDH Aero tested the market this week, launching buyout deals just as some of the first software-related refinancings test investors’ willingness to back names with potential AI risk.

“If you’re going to bring a new issuance deal, we’re mid-summer already; the window to bring new issue will close over the next few weeks. There is a timing element. If you do have buyout related financing, you’re coming to market this week, next week or maybe the week after,” said a leveraged finance banker.

EnergySolutions tightly priced a USD 1.1bn term loan B at SOFR+ 275bps due 2033 with a 99.75 OID. The financing will help fund Energy Capital Partners’ acquisition of the nuclear waste processor from TriArtisan Capital Advisors.

A buyout deal from FDH Aero also priced much tighter than initial margin talk, allocating both its debt package of USD 875mn term loan B due 2033 and its USD 200m term loan due 2033 at SOFR+ 275bps. Bain Capital is taking a majority stake in the supply chain solutions provider.

Equity and debt markets moved down this week as investors faced renewed fears of interest rates rising amid booming capex spending by hyperscalers and revived conflict in the Middle East that is pushing up oil prices. 10-year US Treasury yields rose to the highest level since the start of 2025.

This week, in total, saw just some USD 7.5bn in deals from the primary market, with more than USD 21bn in announced deals, according to Dealogic.

“There have been a few more BSL software deals or software-related deals hitting the market,” the banker said. “There’s still a lot of attention on the sector broadly defined. People have moved away from the early innings of significant disruption to now doing a bit more work in the sector broadly, figuring out who’s benefiting from AI and who has headwinds from AI. That’s allowing certain issuers to come out and test the market and get deals done.”

Thoma Bravo-backed Imprivata led the way when it priced its USD 1.19bn term loan in early July at SOFR+ 375bps to take out term loans due next year. The new loan for the digital identity provider was last quoted just over par, according to Markit.

Now the financial sponsor is in the market, via Goldman Sachs, with an A&E deal for cybersecurity portfolio company Proofpoint to address its USD 5bn SOFR+ 300bps term loan due 2028. Initial price talk on the new loan is at SOFR+ 450bps with a 2030 maturity.

“It’s a large loan, and the market views it as something of a bellwether for many software names that trade in the 95-100 range,” said a lender, who noted that Proofpoint’s strong free cash flow and growth should help investors support an extension of at least a large portion of the loan.

DNA testing and genealogical research site Ancestry.com also tapped the market this week led by Bank of America to refinance its USD 1.95bn SOFR+ 325bps term loan due 2027 with a new USD 1.750bn term loan B due 2031. Initial margin talk is SOFR+ 400bps to 425bps with an OID of 98.50 to 99.

Ancestry.com reported 1Q26 revenue and EBITDA gains in April, bolstering investor confidence that the company would be able to execute a refi in 2026, Debtwire reported at the time.

In the data center space, developer Galaxy Digital priced USD 3.3bn senior secured notes due 2031 issued by Galaxy Helios Data Centers II at 9.875% with a 99.5 OID to yield 10%. Galaxy is developing a 400 MW data center project in Dickens County, Texas leased to AI cloud compute provider CoreWeave.

S&P rated Galaxy Helios B+, the same rating CoreWeave carries. The lessee is in the market itself to raise a USD 2.6bn term loan due 2031 to fund the acquisition and installation of GPUs and related infrastructure to support “take-or-pay” compute contracts with AI firms OpenAI and Cohere. CoreWeave has been a frequent issuer of HY bonds and convertible notes with many of the notes trading under par to yield over 11%.

The pricing on Galaxy Helios comes as markets have been demanding wider spreads to support data center deals as hyper scalers and other groups look to raise a seemingly endless amount of capital.

In a sign of investor pushback, a SPV backed by Blackrock is seeing buyers demand higher yields to purchase USD 12bn in investment grade bonds it is looking to issue to fund construction of a data center leased to internet giant Meta, according to the Financial Times. The new deal may carry a 7.5% yield, 0.4 percentage points wider than a previous Meta data center deal.