Blackstone Sees Increase in M&A Boosting CLO Sales in 2025

Blackstone Inc.is forecasting an increase in mergers and acquisitions that can help boost sales of bonds backed by leveraged loans.

Sales of these bonds, known as collateralized loan obligations, reached a record of $201 billion last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Investor demand for the bonds was strong as money managers sought to buy securities that might see gains from rates being higher for longer than the market previously thought.

That helped make it cheaper to fund CLOs, allowing more of them to be assembled. The high sales volume came even as private equity firms had relatively ...