Cloud 9fin

Distressed Diaries —  Ghost of restructurings past

23 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Now that 2025 is coming to an end, Distressed Diaries is taking a look back at the highs and lows of the year.Our host, senior distressed reporter Bia...

Tranche Talk — Looking ahead to 2026 with BofA's Pratik Gupta

19 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Tranche Talk, we welcome back Bank of America’s Pratik Gupta who talks with 9fin’s Tanvi Gupta on the defining moments of 2025 ...

Private chat — Unlocking liquidity through private credit secondaries

17 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the constantly shifting landscape of private credit secondaries, diversification and strategic alignment play crucial roles as navigational aides.I...

The In-Court Report with Cat Corey — The latest on backstop fees in rights offerings and DIP financings

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the inaugural episode of The In-Court Report with Cat Corey, distressed legal analyst Cat Corey brings in Vince Buccola, professor of law at the Un...

Distressed Diaries — Weil we have your attention, what is fair?

08 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A lot has changed in European restructuring this year.Two more appeals in the UK courts — Thames Water and Petrofac — led to **Waldorf** failing a...

What makes the middle market?

03 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It seems like everyone has a different definition of middle market direct lending and what challenges so-called ‘middle market’ borrowers and lend...

Syndication Nation — Credit and the Cosmos

26 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s not every day that we get to talk about something that’s quite literally out of this world.We’re referring to space-based data centers, whi...

Navigating downturns with Hilco’s Jamie Sprayregen

25 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Cloud 9fin, distressed debt reporter Ayden Crosby and editor Rachel Butt sit down with Jamie Sprayregen, vice chairman of global st...

Syndication Nation — Education borrowers taken to task

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Private equity-owned education companies like Houghton Mifflin and Lakeshore Learning are learning a hard lesson in the US leveraged finance market th...

Jane’s LME Addiction — Are lender voting and concentration caps the new and improved DQ lists?

13 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Jane’s LME Addiction, our head of LME coverage Jane Komsky brings in Davis Polk partners Brian Resnick and Hilary Dengel to discu...

Distressed Diaries — More private credit cockroaches crawling out?

06 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

High-profile US bankruptcies, First Brands and Tricolor have sent warning signals to regulators about the dangers of opaque financings, shining a ligh...

Private credit goes up a grade

29 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As private credit continues to grow, it is constantly looking for new ways to deploy the mountain of capital it has raised. Now that the market is of ...

Tranche Talk — Navigating CLO demand through regulatory changes with PGIM’s Edwin Wilches

27 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Tranche Talk, Cloud 9fin’s CLO series, our global head of CLOs Tanvi Gupta, talks with Edwin Wilches, Co-head of Securitized Prod...

Tranche Talk — CLO investing in a new regime with BlackRock’s Saffet Ozbalci

14 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Tranche Talk, Cloud 9fin’s CLO series, our global head of CLOs, Tanvi Gupta, talks with Saffet Ozbalci, global head of structured...

Jane’s LME Addiction — Let’s veto that law firm

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Jane’s LME Addiction, 9fin’s head of LME coverage Jane Komsky sits down with 9fin private credit reporters Shubham Saharan and ...

How a private credit agreement was negotiated before exclusivity

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An old adage is proving true in the private credit markets: it takes money to make money. Or maybe more accurately in this case, it takes billable hou...

Tranche Talk — CLO portfolio trading and allocating in a tough market with OHA’s Tommy Wong

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Cloud 9fin, our global head of CLOs, Tanvi Gupta, returns for her ongoing series, Tranche Talk. This time, she’s joined by Oak Hi...

Syndication Nation — LevFin gaming and the big parlay on sports contracts

19 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Betting on sports has been a huge engine of growth for LevFin gaming companies. But is sports contract betting a boom or bust moment for the industry?...

Distressed Diaries — Sue me! Litigation on the rise as European LMEs become more aggressive

17 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Litigation against aggressive liability management exercises in Europe is on the rise as creditors fight back against sponsor’s tactics to prime min...

Jane’s LME Addiction — The minority report with Shai Schmidt

15 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Jane’s LME Addiction, 9fin’s head of LME coverage Jane Komsky brings in Shai Schmidt, a partner from Glenn Agre, to discuss how...

Dwindling Prospects: What happens when hospitals disappear

12 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Private equity has made its way into nearly 23% of for-profit US hospitals, despite financial goals that can be at odds with the patient-oriented prio...

Building 9fin: From frustrated banker to fintech founder

04 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What happens when a banker gets fed up with outdated technology and decides to build something better?In this week’s episode of Cloud 9fin, we depar...

Distressed Diaries — Hardly fair? The evolution of English restructuring plans

29 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The English courts have been called upon several times in the last few years to reevaulate what should be considered fair in Part 26A restructuring pl...

Jane's LME Addiction — Is a deal away going your way?

13 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Jane’s LME Addiction, *9fin’*s head of LME coverage Jane Komsky brings in Sound Point Capital Management managing director, Mor...

Syndication Nation — No Cap(itulation)

07 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this week’s episode of Syndication Nation, a podcast dedicated to all things leveraged finance, 9fin LevFin reporter Dan Mika talks with Barclays...

Distressed Diaries — Will US tariffs drive a German auto slowdown, or will there be a U-turn?

30 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On Sunday 27 July, US and the EU have struck a deal to set at 15% tariffs on EU export to the US, which is not as high as president Donald Trump previ...

Getting on board with Jon Foster

22 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Cloud9fin, our distressed debt editor Rachel Butt brings in Jonathan Foster, founder of Current Capital Partners, to discuss corpor...

Jane’s LME Addiction — DQ lists are overrated

17 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Jane’s LME Addiction, 9fin’s head of LME coverage Jane Komsky brings in Mudrick Capital Management founder, Jason Mudrick, and ...

Direct lending CLOs, the sterling edition

10 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier in June, Ares priced its first direct lending CLO, the second of its kind of Europe, but with a twist — it is priced in sterling.The last 12...

Jane's LME Addiction - Jennifer Selendy knows when to hold 'em

30 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Jane’s LME Addiction, our head of LME coverage Jane Komsky brings in founding partner of Selendy Gay, Jennifer Selendy, to discus...

SRT across continents

26 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It has been a busy month for the Significant Risk Transfer (SRT) market as investors returned from the Global ABS conference in Barcelona earlier this...

Tranche Talk — CLOs are no longer exotic

23 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Cloud 9fin, Tanvi Gupta, global head of CLOs at 9fin, talks with Sumer Chopra, director at Alumia, to discuss how CLOs have gone fr...

Distressed Diaries — Cerba creditors' patience gets tested

19 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We are back to France — the current epicentre of European credit stress — for our second episode of Distressed Diaries.Over the last few months, F...

Private credit’s Deliberation Days

16 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

President Donald Trump’s much anticipated ‘Liberation Day’ sent global markets into a tizzy in April, but how did private credit firms react?Dur...

Syndication Nation — My neck, my back, my EBITDA-T addback

11 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this week’s episode of Syndication Nation, a podcast dedicated to all things leveraged finance-related, 9fin deputy editor Sasha Padbidri and hea...

Jane’s LME Addiction — Rachel Murray will fix your capital structure

09 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Jane’s LME Addiction, our head of LME coverage Jane Komsky brings in Rachel Murray, a managing director at Moelis, to discuss how...

Tranche Talk — CLOs are now a family business

03 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Cloud 9fin, Tanvi Gupta, global head of CLOs at 9fin, talks with Yang Xu, CEO at City Hall Capital, to discuss the growth of family...

Syndication Nation — Warner Bros Discovery on fallen angel watch

30 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the inaugural episode of Syndication Nation, 9fin’s podcast on all things syndicated debt, deputy editor William Hoffman joined US managing edito...

Managing global loan data from the middle

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In today’s market, speed of information and up-to-the-minute accuracy are essential in portfolio management. With that in mind, Chase Collum, head o...

Distressed Diaries — Fly on the wall to Altice France debt negotiations

22 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Altice France’s restructuring negotiations has been one of the hottest talks of the distress town since last year. With the company now preparing to...

Canyon Partners’ Sheffield and Barzideh talk opportunistic credit

15 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US tariff policy has unleashed economic uncertainty both domestically and elsewhere. Even after a de-escalation of the worst trade tensions with China...

Nothing venture-d, nothing gained

08 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Here at 9fin, we pride ourselves on being private credit enthusiasts. And that means covering all parts of the market, big or small. This includes all...

New organ, old body — how to avoid 'tissue rejection' in private credit restructurings

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Generally speaking, lenders don’t lend money to companies with the intention of ending up as equity owners. But things don’t always go to plan. An...

Private credit terms in the time of tariffs

23 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A seemingly endless cycle of tariff pronouncements and delays has been sending stocks and liquid debt markets on a roller coaster ride in recent weeks...

Tranche Talk — Tariff volatility offers opportunities for CLOs

15 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Cloud 9fin, Tanvi Gupta, global head of CLOs at 9fin, talks with Carlyle’s Lauren Basmadjian, global head of liquid credit, and M...

Jane’s LME Addiction — Dan Kamensky will Fight for Your Right(s)

10 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Jane’s LME Addiction, our head of LME coverage Jane Komsky brings in founder and board member of Creditor Rights Coalition, Dan K...

In private credit, smaller is sometimes better

07 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On why some lower middle market lending specialists like to stay investing in companies with a sub-$50m EBITDA, they like to joke that it is because t...

The Ardagh LME origin story

01 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Was Ardagh's carve-out of its metal packaging business in 2021 an early example of a European LME before LMEs went global? Call it what you will, the ...

Mastering middle office data and decisions

27 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

No one likes that feeling of being a little too thick in the middle. But finding the right balance of strength and cushion is no easy task. We’re ta...

AI fireside with Steven Hunter and Sujeet Indap

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

AI is eating the world, or so the headlines say. But what does this really mean for debt markets? Where does AI truly excel, and what limitations pers...

Bringing loan data from fax to the future

06 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the credit markets, it’s important practitioners get their fax straight. No, you didn’t read that wrong — even in 2025, people still use fax ...

Scott Greenberg wants your cooperation

05 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of Jane’s LME Addiction, our head of LME coverage Jane Komsky brings in global chair of Gibson Dunn’s restructuring group, Scott G...

Getty-ing back with your X, on Snapchat

26 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Three media companies, in vaguely the same vicinity, in fair debt markets where we lay our scene — where ancient business models encounter new scrut...

For the continuation fun[d] of it

21 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the private equity world, continuation vehicles have been a bit of a blockbuster, so can the structure's success transfer to private credit?We have...

SRT leverage is fun and cool

14 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We talk a lot about leverage at the 9fin office (it’s kind of the story behind our company name, in case you were wondering) so it should come as no...

Jane's LME Addiction: Never been in Better Health

13 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Long live liability management.In this episode of our new show Jane’s LME Addiction, our head of LME coverage Jane Komsky brings in Latham & Wat...

Another maturity in the wall

10 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Publicly traded leveraged debt issuers are facing a collective maturity wall of $219 billion in the coming years. But unlike the Chiefs' offensive lin...

Fútbol, football, private credit

06 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Super Bowl Sunday upon us, much like over a third of the US, we thought we’d focus on sports.Private credit has been circling sports for some t...

Private credit ping pong

03 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

People love to talk about the battle between banks and private credit firms in leveraged debt markets. And at a high level, it’s true that the dealf...

How are the Southern California wildfires impacting LevFin?

22 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The full extent of the damage from this season’s California wildfires is yet to be determined, but one thing that is certain is that some leveraged ...

How many private credit managers does an LP really need?

15 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After years of growth and positive sentiment, 2024 saw private credit’s smallest fundraising haul since 2019. But the year-on-year drop in capital r...

Introducing Jane's LME addiction: The bookends of the Serta era

08 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For this week’s Cloud 9fin episode, we’re launching a new monthly recurring series: Jane’s LME Addiction, in which distressed legal analyst Jane...

Tranche Talk — More tailwinds than headwinds for CLOs in 2025

18 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A record breaking year comes to an end. What could possibly come next? How about another?In this week's episode of Cloud 9fin, Tanvi Gupta, global hea...

How to fix a broken balance sheet

11 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Who is more invested in a breakfast of eggs and bacon — a chicken or a pig? And what does this have to do with leveraged finance?Find out in this we...

On becoming the voice of Europe's buyside

04 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After a great run co-founding and helping to build up the European Leveraged Finance Association, Sabrina Fox is putting ELFA on the shelf to focus on...

The case for lower middle market lending

27 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Are you a business owner and now looking to retire? Not to worry, because as private equity sponsors fund that move to Florida, their acquisitions are...

Lycra stretches out for private credit

25 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

More and more, the lines are blurring between our private credit and distressed coverage.In this episode of Cloud 9fin, private credit editor David Br...

What could go wrong in the 'golden age' of private credit?

20 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Not all that glitters is gold. And not everyone agrees that the recent era for private credit should be called “the golden age.”In this week’s e...

Two continents divided by the same numbers

13 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Private credit in both the US and Europe has faced a great deal of pressure from bank lenders in 2024. But despite a slow start, the asset class is ho...

Red dawn

08 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A majority of American voters have embraced Donald Trump’s message, and a lot of things are about to change. What does his resounding victory in thi...

How funds are NAVigating the M&A lull

06 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

All eyes are on the results of the US election results today, and soon, they’ll turn back to the Federal Reserve. Hinging on whether the Fed decides...

The cost of environmental catastrophes is rising

30 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Batten down the hatches, because the cost of environmental damage continues to rise.Hurricanes and natural disasters pose a threat to leveraged credit...

Going direct but staying flexible, with AlbaCore Capital

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Even with competition heating up, the direct lending market is ripe with opportunity.In this week’s episode of Cloud 9fin, Fin Strathern interviews ...

This probably won't be a System1-time thing

16 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Every now and then a situation comes around that stretches the limits of possibility. System1 is just such a situation, and private credit investors s...

Tranche Talk — Fundamentals of CLO fundraising

09 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

CLO captive equity funds have emerged as an important part of a manager’s toolkit, affording greater control over CLO issuance patterns. In this wee...

Dishing on DISH

02 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before but what the heck did DISH (Echostar) and DIRECTV just say they were going to do? And will it actually happe...

Deprivatizing private credit one quarter at a time

26 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

By nature, private credit is opaque. At least for now. But 9fin’s private credit team is hard at work building a data set that will help shed light ...

Co-op agreements through the eye of American Needle

25 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Cooperation agreements have taken the LME world by storm, foiling distressed companies' plans to play creditors off of one another to secure a better ...

Getting real about synthetic PIKs

18 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

One of the strengths of private credit is its flexibility. And who doesn’t love to PIK and choose?In this week’s episode of Cloud 9fin, US private...

The Zombie Apocalypse with Dr. Edward Altman

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Zombie companies are businesses that, despite being insolvent, manage to survive for extended periods. Traditionally, these companies are defined by t...

Switching over from Paramount

04 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

All eyes are on media giant Paramount Global and its $13bn debt stack, amid the threat of a downgrade to junk status. With streaming wars intensifying...

Private credit back to the future

30 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Private credit funds are venturing back to their roots, embracing a strategy that blends the old with the new as hybrid deals are back in vogue.But is...

Hedging our debts

28 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hedge funds are making a bold push into the private credit arena, lured by the promise of higher returns. However, new territory is not without its hu...

Is private credit entering its Silver Fox era?

27 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Private credit fundraising has been going through an inflection point in recent years, as high interest rates and geopolitical risk increasingly drive...

Unjustice for all

21 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision on 27 June ruled that a bankruptcy court does not have the statutory authority to provide non-consensual third par...

Lend and let lend

14 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Not all liability management deals are "violent"; in fact the majority of deals in 2024 have allowed for participation by non ad hoc group lenders who...

LBO volumes warm up in the summer sun

07 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

US leveraged buyout volumes are slowly starting to improve, with the likes of Apollo, Thoma Bravo, CD&R and TowerBrook making moves. This comes af...

Tranche Talk — When one door opens another one CLOs, with Napier Park's Serhan Secman

31 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The credit markets are constantly evolving, and CLOs are no exception. As hopeful new managers enter, less successful platforms fall away. This keeps ...

BONUS: Has our Thames Water broke?

29 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tumultuous waves have long beset Thames Water, but last week a massive one hit the imperiled UK utility company head on as Moody's cut its opco debt t...

Doctor Who?

24 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For the vendors and firms owed money by a bankrupt company, the primary motivation to join an Unsecured Creditors’ Committee is often simple: maximi...

Knowing your place, with Hayfin's Carlos Pla

17 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the realm of private credit, thinking local is a must. Which means knowing your place can determine whether an investment will succeed or generate ...

The dawn of the audit bro

10 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Shout if you’ve heard this one before: a CPA and an MD walk into a bar. The MD says, “Plz Fix,” and the CPA says, “sure, but I’ll need three...

A Texas Shaw-down

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Overheard in the Southern District of Texas: Don’t be a meanie! Ok, we may be paraphrasing here a bit, but taking the decision in Robertshaw and the...

It Hertz you to see it

26 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When it emerged from bankruptcy in 2021, Hertz was something of a success story. Everyone involved who wasn’t named Carl Icahn made out OK. But here...

Hold my rate, bro

19 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Last week at the Fed, nothing happened. Usually when nothing happens, we don’t report on it, but in this case it got us thinking. What are the conse...

Alas, poor EDVA, we knew thee well

12 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Lawyers might finally be done filing large, complex Chapter 11s in the Eastern District of Virginia.In this week’s episode of Cloud 9fin, our very o...

The ABCs of private credit LMEs, with Freshfields

07 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In recent years, the term ‘lender-on-lender violence’ has become a popular way to refer to deals that are more politely known as ‘liability mana...

The rise and rise of SRT with Matthew Moniot of Man Group

30 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

At what point does a trend become a megatrend? In this week’s episode of Cloud 9fin, our very own ABS editor Owen Sanderson is joined by Matthew Mo...

What does the UK election mean for credit?

24 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s happening! Voters in the UK will head to the polls in just over a month, and most polls forecast a resounding victory for Keir Starmer and the ...

Talking SaaS with Thoma Bravo, feat. Oliver Thym

16 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Enterprise software is a sector with a lot to love if you’re a private credit investor: long-term contracts and sticky customers.But how will AI imp...