The riskiest U.S. companies are stepping up their borrowing inthe market for leveraged loans, with the amount of financingscompleted this year already exceeding what they raised in all of2012.

Borrowers from HJ Heinz Co. to Valeant PharmaceuticalsInternational Inc. have tapped non-bank lenders for $298.4 billionin 2013, more than the $295.3 billion obtained last year, accordingto Standard & Poor's Capital IQ Leveraged Commentary and Data.At the current pace, the record of $386.6 billion set in 2007 willbe eclipsed before year-end.

Rather than leveraging up, more than half of the loans made thisyear have been used to reduce interest costs or extend maturities,as companies take advantage of investor demand to strengthen theirbalance sheets. Investors added a record $2.1 billion last weekinto funds that buy loans, bringing the total for the year to morethan $40 billion, according to Bank of America Corp.