What's going on?

Analysis out on Thursday showed that at least $25 billion worth of deals in Europe are at risk of collapsing.

What does this mean?

After more than a decade of willy-nilly lending, banks are suddenly becoming less willing to stump up for major mergers and acquisitions. Even the biggest banks are casting a sidelong glance at the choppy markets and slashing the value of the loans they give out, nervous that they won�t be able to sell that debt on to investors like they normally would. They�re right to be cautious: the banks that lent Clayton, Dubilier & Rice $8 billion to help buy UK supermarket chain Morrisons have struggled to pass on that debt in the form of bonds. That�s got investors worried that other deals � including the mooted $6 billion-plus buyout of British drugstore chain Boots � might not be able to get the financing they need.

Why should I care?

Zooming in: Plan B.
Buyers that want to go ahead with deals do have a couple of other options, mind you. The first is to fund a higher proportion of the deal by offering up stock as payment. The second is to seek out alternative ways to borrow: banks� reluctance to lend has opened the door to private debt firms that have amassed more than $1 trillion to help fill the gap � albeit at higher rates of interest.

For markets: Brexit strikes again.
It�s not just dealmaking that the UK is struggling with: the share of British IPOs compared to those in Europe has been shrinking since the country voted for Brexit in 2016. A series of high-profile flops over the past two years certainly hasn’t helped, with the likes of Deliveroo, Wise, and THG all down more than 60% since listing. The country�s post-Brexit ambition to boost its standing as a global financial center has been going well, then.