Goldman Sachs emerges as leading bidder for Palmer Square

Goldman Sachs has emerged as the leading bidder to acquire Palmer Square Capital Management, a Kansas-based credit manager overseeing about $37 billion in assets, according to Bloomberg-reported accounts. Palmer Square specializes in collateralized loan obligations, which package corporate loans into securities with varying risk and return profiles. The potential acquisition would expand Goldman’s presence in the rapidly growing CLO and alternative-credit markets while supporting its strategy of building larger, steadier fee-based asset-management businesses. The U.S. CLO market has grown more than fourfold over the past 15 years to exceed $1.3 trillion, intensifying competition among banks and alternative-asset managers. No deal has been finalized, and the talks could still collapse.