Banks have staged a fightback against non-bank rivals in the battle to lend debt to back European mid-market buyouts in the first half of 2016, after losing market share for the previous two years, according to a new survey by advisory firm AlixPartners.

Senior bank lending - which is less risky and as a result yields lower returns than unitranche or mezzanine debt - increased its number of mid-market deals by 23% in the first half compared with the last six months of 2015, the firm's mid-market debt survey said.