Mercer Advisors refinances $1.9 billion in first broadly syndicated loan

Mercer Advisors has refinanced $1.9 billion of debt and says the deal will save $35 million to $40 million in interest in 2027. InvestmentNews reported that the Denver firm expects the savings to fund further growth and acquisitions, and that the transaction was its first move into the broadly syndicated loan market.

The package replaces Mercer's private debt with a seven-year term loan B and a five-year, $340 million revolving credit facility, led by Goldman Sachs. Mercer said the deal was meaningfully oversubscribed and carries an interest rate 1.75 percentage points below its predecessor. S&P Global Ratings rated Mercer B with a stable outlook in September 2026 and described a $1.65 billion term loan plus a $250 million delayed draw term loan. The two pieces sum to the $1.9 billion refinancing.

CEO Dave Welling told InvestmentNews that the move required scale and stable organic growth. "You need to be large enough, and you also need to have the business quality metrics of organic growth, the predictability and stability of that organic growth to take this kind of step," he said. "The public markets are very discerning."

EP Wealth Advisors closed a $400 million seven-year term loan and a $100 million revolver in September 2025 to pay down debt and finance acquisitions. Citywire reported on Oct. 15 that $74 billion Beacon Pointe raised $1.2 billion of debt and earmarked $80 million for M&A.

Separately, DeVoe & Company counted RIA M&A volume down 17% in the third quarter, with consolidators handling 53% of deals through September 2026. That tally covers all RIA transactions, not the large buyers now accessing syndicated debt, so whether cheaper funding lifts activity among those buyers remains unresolved.