Unlike the Loan Market Association (LMA) and the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (APLMA), the Loan Syndications & Trading Association (LSTA) does not publish a recommended form of term sheet. Instead, financing transactions in the Americas are organized and structured on the basis of term sheets, loan agreements and other documentation prepared by legal counsel.
An LMA template term sheet is for use with the LMA recommended form of term and/or revolving facilities for investment grade loans. It assumes multiple lenders, includes options to inclusion of a swingline and/or letter of credit facility, and use with the LMA template mandate letter. LMA template term sheets have gained wide acceptance in the European loan markets.
The LMA Leveraged Term Sheet is a traditional “bullet point” term sheet based on the provisions of the Leveraged Facilities Agreement used for the finance of acquisitions (LBOs) in the European market. The LMA also publishes temple term sheets for use with real estate financing facilities.
[In leveraged finance, the] bulk of negotiations on key terms [takes] place at the term sheet stage. The leveraged term sheet is therefore not very widely used. Most private equity sponsors have their own lengthy model form term sheets intended to ensure that deals can be documented quickly.
The LMA also publishes a term sheet for use in pre-export finance transactions, a secured single currency term facility agreement governed by South African law, and a real estate finance German law facility agreement.