Wall Street fell back in love with debt last year—head over heels. High-yield offerings rose more than 200 percent in 2009, to 381, just a year after they plummeted 67 percent, to 112. The total value of offerings nearly quadrupled, to $180.5 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.
On the issuer side, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett claimed the top spot (measured by proceeds). The firm handled 27 offerings totaling $13.2 billion. Kirkland & Ellis didn’t work on any high-yield offerings for issuers in 2008, but rebounded to number two, with 11 deals totaling $7.7 billion.
