Banks saddled with US$30B in unwanted debt in risk exodus

The world's biggest banks have already had to use about US$30 billion of their own cash this year to fund loans for acquisitions and buyouts that they weren't able to offload to investors.

The lenders have been forced to fund at least 15 deals in the U.S. and Europe as inflation and risk of a recession evaporates investor appetite for risky corporate debt. The total tally, based on calculations using data sourced by Bloomberg, could nearly double over the coming months as more deals are scheduled to close.

While it's not uncommon for banks to self-fund deals when market sentiment sours, the sheer amount of hung debt -- including US$3.9 billion for Apollo Global Management Inc.'s purchase of Brightspeed and more than US$8 billion for a buyout of Nielsen Holdings Plc -- is deterring banks from making new financing commitments.