High-yield bond issuance remained largely flat in the first half of the year, as heightened volatility from President Trump’s tariff announcements stalled the momentum seen in 1Q25.

Bond issuance volumes totaled USD 116bn across 129 deals in 1H25, similar to USD 114bn across 153 deals in 1H24, according to Debtwire data.

“Early in Q2 we were building tremendous momentum and then we had the shock from the tariffs. That derailed things temporarily, but I think the market has gotten past that now,” said Andrew Baker, partner in the Capital Markets Practice at Latham & Watkins.

Companies mostly visited the market with hopes of getting ahead of new spurts of volatility and lock in lower borrowing costs through opportunistic deals. Refinancing transactions accounted for 73% of the total volume issued in the first half of the year.

“Most of the volume is refinancing work, companies refinancing their maturities when they see an opportunistic time in the market. Earlier in the [second] quarter there were some really [great] market dynamics, and many deals got done,” said Adam Dworkin, partner and co-chair of the Corporate Group at Cahill, Gordon & Reindel.

M&A-related high-yield bond issuance held steady year over year, with USD 12bn priced in 1H25, up slightly from USD 10bn in the same period last year. Latham was the top legal counsel for managers in the category in terms of volume, having advised on four deals worth USD 6.55bn.

“Though industry-wide M&A is off from where hopes might be, we across the platform have remained extraordinarily busy and enjoyed great market share,” said Stelios Saffos, global chair of Latham’s capital markets & public company representation practice.

Borrower-side league table 

Latham & Watkins climbed six positions and rose to the top of the league table for issuer-side legal counsel in 1H25, advising on USD 19.32bn across 16 deals. The firm had a market share of 15.65%, up from 5.54% in 1H24.

“It speaks to our ability to help a company think through all of the different alternatives they have in front of them,” said Saffos.

The firm advised Skechers on its USD 10.3bn sale to 3G Capital, which featured the issuance of unsecured bonds in late June to help fund the buyout of the shoe company.

“The deal involved around 50 lawyers across our firm. It’s not advice on one product. It was M&A advice, litigation advice, public company advice,” said Baker.

Paul Weiss climbed four positions and reached the number two spot on the table, advising issuers on USD 14.06bn worth of deals across 12 transactions. The firm emphasized the importance of becoming a one-stop shop for borrowers, especially as public and private markets increasingly overlap as sources of financing.

“Clients don’t start a financing process with a set idea. Particularly in private equity financing, they’re going to look at private credit, the syndicated market, the bond market,” said Tim Cruickshank, partner at Paul Weiss. “They’re going to look at structured or hybrid products. They expect their legal counsel to be able to provide advice across that,” he continued.

Kirkland & Ellis completed the podium, having advised on USD 12.66bn across 16 deals, including advising 3G on the financing to fund the Skechers deal.

Managers league table

Cahill, Gordon & Reindel climbed one position and took the top spot of the league table for bank-side high-yield bond legal counsel in 1H25, advising on USD 26.54bn across 34 deals.

The firm benefited from its expertise in refinancing transactions, which dominated issuance in the period. Cahill held 21.3% of the market share in the category, slightly down from 24.37% in 1H24.

“Historically, Cahill has had the number one market share for advising investment banks on high yield deals,” said Dworkin, who noted the firm’s role in the provider of lab services DaVita’ USD 1bn bond deal from May.

“It happened at a time when we were starting to see some rebound in the market and the deal was able to get done opportunistically,” added Dworkin.

Latham took the second spot, advising on 28 deals worth USD 25.97bn.

Simpson Thacher & Barlett took the third spot, advising managers on USD 20.66bn across 26 deals.

Largest high yield bond deals

The largest high yield bond deals of the first semester priced during 1Q25, such as Quikrete’s USD 5.45bn deal to repay debt and fund an acquisition, and Bausch & Lomb’s USD 4.4bn refi.

The second quarter of the year featured the Skechers’ USD 3.36bn LBO deal and xAI’s USD 3bn notes for general corporate purposes, as well as Boots’ EUR 650m jumbo bond offering.

Latham advised the underwriters on Boots’ issuance of the euro-denominated notes due 2032 and GBP 375m senior secured notes also due 2032.

“That is a Latham signature deal,” said Saffos, noting that it featured multiple financing tranches across both the public and private markets.

“It involved nearly 200 lawyers across the firm,” concluded Baker.

1H25 North America HY Bonds Legal Advisors’ Rankings (Access Required)

1. For deals involving multiple law firms, the volume is prorated. For example, a USD 300m deal with three law firms would result in each firm getting credit for USD 100m in volume.