SFNet’s deal table featured 267 unique deals in the first quarter of 2026*, reflecting a strong and diversified start to the year for secured finance markets. Those transactions represented 402 lender participations across banks and nonbank providers, underscoring sustained lender engagement and active syndication across a range of deal types and industries.

Deal activity was consistent throughout the quarter, with notable strength at both ends of the reporting period. January opened the year with 86 deals, February recorded 67 deals, and March delivered a sharp acceleration with 116 deals, accounting for more than 40% of total Q1 volume. The pattern points to deal momentum that was already present at the start of the year and intensified as the quarter progressed.

Bank vs. Nonbank Activity: What the Data Shows

An analysis of the Q1 deal table highlights the continued prominence of nonbank lenders in overall deal count:

• Nonbank-only deals: 204 deals (approximately 76% of all Q1 transactions)
• Bank-only deals: 57 deals (approximately 21%)
• Mixed bank and nonbank syndicates: 6 deals (approximately 2%)

Looking at lender participations rather than unique deals tells a more balanced story:

• 11 nonbank participations
• 30 bank participations

This distinction is important. While nonbanks dominate deal count—often reflecting smaller, more specialized, or highly structured financings—banks continue to play a significant role in larger, syndicated transactions with multiple lenders. In practice, this dynamic reflects a complementary ecosystem rather than a zero-sum shift between lender types.

How the Annual ABL Survey Explains Deal Table Patterns

These Q1 deal table trends align closely with findings from SFNet’s Q4 and Full-Year 2025 ABL Survey, which describes a market that remains fundamentally stable but increasingly segmented.

Survey data shows bank lenders maintaining large overall commitments, with modest quarter-over-quarter growth but some seasonal paydowns in outstandings. By contrast, nonbank lenders reported stronger momentum, including increases in commitments, outstandings, and utilization. That divergence helps explain why nonbanks appear so frequently in the Q1 deal table, particularly in transactions requiring flexibility, speed, or customized collateral structures.

At the same time, the survey points to a structural shift toward larger average deal sizes and increased competition for scale transactions. That trend is visible in Q1 through several large, participation-heavy financings—particularly in energy, infrastructure, and real estate—where banks are often present as agents, lead arrangers, or key syndicate members. While these transactions represent fewer unique deals, they account for a meaningful share of total lending activity and participations.

Industry Leaders and Why They Matter

Manufacturing led all industries by deal count in Q1, reflecting continued reliance on asset-based lending, factoring, and equipment-backed structures to support working capital, inventory cycles, and operational growth. This aligns with ABL survey findings showing that borrowing bases remain anchored in receivables and inventory—still the core collateral underpinning much of the ABL market.

Energy followed closely, with transactions spanning traditional energy services, infrastructure, renewables, and storage-related projects. The breadth of energy financings in the deal table mirrors the survey’s observation that lenders are increasingly targeting larger, more complex credits, often tied to long-term assets and contracted cash flows.

Healthcare and apparel tied for the next highest deal count, though driven by very different financing needs. Healthcare activity reflected steady demand for growth capital, bridge loans, and senior secured facilities. Apparel transactions, by contrast, skewed toward liquidity-driven solutions such as asset-based lines, purchase order financing, and factoring.

Factoring’s Role Becomes More Visible

Those apparel—and related staffing and distribution—transactions take on added meaning when viewed alongside SFNet’s 2025 Year-End Factoring Survey. The survey shows factoring volume, funds in use, and revenue all expanding meaningfully, driven by tighter traditional credit, extended payment cycles, and heightened working capital pressure. Factoring continues to step in where borrowers no longer fit conventional bank credit boxes, a trend increasingly reflected in the deal table.

Importantly, factoring’s exceptionally strong credit performance—marked by very low write-offs—reinforces why receivables-based structures remain central to secured finance activity even as the broader economy slows.

Bottom Line

Q1 2026 deal activity reflects a resilient, adaptive secured finance market. The deal table data shows broad-based engagement across industries and lender types, while SFNet’s annual surveys help explain the forces shaping that activity: nonbank momentum, upmarket migration, selective growth, and sustained demand for receivables- and asset-backed solutions. Together, they offer a clearer picture of where secured finance stands—and where it appears to be heading next.

 *This list highlights deals submitted to SFNet or identified through public searches and represents a sampling of market activity

This article was created with the assistance of AI tools.