Junk-debt sales on both sides of the Atlantic surged on Monday as firms took advantage of easing geopolitical tensions after US President Donald Trump abandoned his Greenland-linked tariff threats.

Some 30 deals worth about $39 billion swooped on the US leveraged loan market — mainly to reprice existing loans or refinance debt — in the busiest day since July, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In Europe, nine borrowers turned to the region’s junk-bond market for deals and another four high-yield bonds launched in the US, including United Airlines, which announced the first unsecured junk bond from a high-yield issuer for a local airline since the pandemic.

Among the others were Italmatch Chemicals SpA and health care firm Alloheim Senioren-Residenzen SE, which were looking for close to $2 billion-equivalent in euros, according to people familiar with the transactions.

“Even with the headlines about Greenland, high yield has barely budged,” said Michael Levitin, a portfolio manager at MidOcean Partners.

Indeed, Monday’s frenzy — putting Europe on track for its busiest week ever for leveraged loans according to the Bloomberg data — follows another week of gains in US junk bonds, marking its longest winning streak since September. Risk premiums, at a yield of roughly 6.6% on Monday, have hovered near two-decade lows despite headline risks over tariffs, persistent threats of inflation and multiple wars.

Europe’s iTraxx Crossover Index — a key gauge of the continent’s credit risk — has also dropped toward multi-year lows after a brief spike last week. Borrowers are seizing on the lull to tap debt markets after a week dominated by headlines from Trump’s trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“Everyone was very nervous around geopolitical risks, so a bit of calm after Davos looks like a good time to come to the market,” said Felicity Juckes, a high-yield debt portfolio manager at TwentyFour Asset Management LLP.

At the heart of the matter is the sheer amount of money sitting on the sidelines that needs to be put to work, according to MidOcean’s Levitin.

Italmatch’s bond sale, for example, comes as the chemicals’ sector struggles with higher energy prices and heightened competition. But the specialty chemical maker’s February 2028 bond continues to trade above par.

In loans, well-known credits from Patriot Rail to convenience store chain EG Group were some of the dozens of companies seeking to reprice or refinance existing debt. CLOs, the biggest buyers of leveraged loans, are typically wary of repricings which compress margins. But record issuance has made bankers confident that demand is deep enough to absorb new leveraged loan supply. 

“The truth is, if you’re repricing or refinancing, you’re probably a high-quality credit and investors are loathe to lose that paper,” said Mike Best, a high-yield and senior loan portfolio manager at Barings. “Think about the CLO market, there is a lot of bias to be fully invested at all times. Investors have to grapple with the fact there is not a lot of marginal new issue or attractive secondary activity right now.”

While investors have been starved of new money for some time, signs are emerging that acquisition financing is ticking up. Loans for buyouts hit $11.7 billion in January, the highest since February 2022, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. research. 

With assistance from Hannah Benjamin-Cook and Amedeo Goria.

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