Cloud 9fin
Episodes
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...
The Steward situation is batsh*t crazy
09 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From a colony of bats plaguing one of its hospitals in Florida to an alleged connection to money laundering in Malta, Steward Health‘s descent into ...
Navigating the new paradigm with Rob Fawn of PGIM
02 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The current interest rate environment is driving a rise in downgrades, special situations and liability management exercises. But how to know which of...
Managing messaging with Jude Gorman of Collected Strategies
25 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Finance is about money, obviously, but it’s also about narratives. That’s especially true in the world of activist investing and proxy battles, an...
SBTi U-turn rocks world of sustainable finance
18 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The SBTi’s sudden change in stance on the use of carbon credits came as a shock in the world of sustainable finance last week.In this episode, our h...
Intrum in the red
11 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The end of cheap borrowing is showing its true colors — and for Intrum it’s a deep shade of red as the Swedish debt collector faces its own credit...
Control, Altice, Delete
04 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What do you get when a builder basket just keeps building, and building and building? You get a whole basketful of lenders caught off-guard by the mas...
Tailoring to the thesis with David Leland of BC Partners
28 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The question on everyone’s lips these days seems to be: are you going BSL, or are you going direct? But when private equity sponsors are building ou...
Who watches the WeightWatchers?
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Ozempic effect is coming for more than just your wardrobe! Last week, 9fin reported that a group of lenders to Weight Watchers parent WW Internat...
The best and worst of high yield bond covenants
14 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
European bond investors: your restricted payment builder baskets are under threat! But also, you’re probably better protected against being J.Screwe...
IWD Edition — Breaking through the bottleneck
07 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Everybody knows that finance is a male-dominated industry, and there are plenty of initiatives to change that. But when you look at the numbers, it ca...
Restructuring reflections with Chris Schubert, Alcentra
29 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
9fin sits down with Chris Schubert, executive director in special situations at Alcentra, to talk about his expectations for the distressed market thi...
Big shrimpin'
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Who could have imagined that Red Lobster’s endless shrimp promotion might have unintended financial consequences?Does distress at retailers like Exp...
ESG regulations ramp up in the US
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In November 2023, California circumvented the US Securities and Exchange Commission and released two regulations aimed at increasing climate disclosur...
It’s raining repricings in Europe
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Repricing deals have flooded the European market over the past few weeks, with many companies taking advantage of lower interest rate forecasts and ti...
Riding the repricing wave, with Himani Trivedi of Nuveen
26 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
US leveraged loan borrowers are repricing their debt at a frenetic pace, and it’s starting to hurt — in some credits, they’re testing the base l...
A deep dive on cross-border recognition with Riz Mokal
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Cross-border recognition is where every good restructuring deal hopes to end. Recognition was historically a more clearcut part of a restructuring pro...
Bonds are back, baby!
12 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Loan repricings came thick and fast in the US market this week, with borrowers looking to slash their borrowing costs on more than $30bn of debt — b...
Cinven answers investors’ LBO Christmas wishes with Synlab takeover
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
German medical diagnostics provider Synlab answered investors’ Christmas wishes for another big European LBO deal by coming to market with €1.5bn ...
What the collapse of Enviva and Inclusive means for ESG
21 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The collapse of wood pellet producer Enviva last month was swift and brutal. The story’s not over yet for all of the company’s investors (for an e...
2023 review with CEO Steven Hunter
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Looking back on 2023, we’ve seen financial markets tested by ongoing geopolitical upheaval. We sit down with 9fin’s CEO Steven Hunter to take us t...
The release of ‘9fin AI’, GPT for LevFin
07 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“9fin AI enables our users to find and process the information they need quicker. Speed is essential in financial markets and debt is no exception.”...
Rich Byrne of BSP on why CRE lending is the real deal
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Commercial real estate is in crisis — specifically, office buildings.The pandemic unleashed an unpredictable torrent of changes in how people work a...
Corestate’s lawyers on its protracted “alternative” restructuring
16 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
German real estate is very in vogue in distressed land. In keeping with that trend, German real estate investment firm Corestate Capital is trying to ...
What's next for Adler's Restructuring Plan
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On 21 April this year, the High Court sanctioned Adler Group's UK Restructuring Plan, enabling the group to pursue a solvent wind-down of operations a...
Talking ESG with lawyers, Sukhvir Basran and Alex Smith
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
ESG has had a rocky ride in 2023, so how is the legal sector responding?This week, 9fin’s Head of ESG, Jack David talks with prominent sustainabilit...
It's a Wonderful Life Settlement
26 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Life insurance, on the face of it, is not the most exciting industry. The secondary market for life insurance policies, however, presents the perfect ...
Q&A with Mike Scott, Man GLG
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The new high interest rate environment poses a huge challenge for companies with debt maturing in the next two years. What risks and opportunities do ...
Debt purchasers in the spotlight
05 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Debt purchasers must soon decide how they plan on addressing upcoming maturity walls, but they are facing scrutiny over their business models.For this...
Right placement, right time, with Jess Larsen, Briarcliffe Partners
28 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Jess Larsen is in the right place at precisely the right time: after a tough period last year, investor interest in private credit is exploding once a...
The short seller's guide to credit, with Carson Block
25 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Carson Block is not an unfamiliar name, at least in the equity markets. He and his short-activism fund Muddy Waters Research have been at the center o...
Private credit CLOs are coming our way
21 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When JP Morgan priced Ivy Hill XXI in July it marked the bank's entry into middle-market CLO arranging and underlined the expansion of the mid-market ...
Banks push back on private credit with Eric Muller, Oak Hill Advisors
14 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Can banks really compete with the big guns of private credit? Many are trying — but there are multiple constraints holding them back, from regulatio...
A new dawn for J Crew Blockers? Strong formulations we’ve seen in 2023
07 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Lenders tend to feel reassured knowing their docs have a J Crew blocker, but not all J Crew blockers offer the protection they might expect.For this w...
The pipe is ripe
31 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been a hot and heavy summer, and the pipeline is looking encouragingly full for next month — especially compared to this time last year.For t...
ESG specialist Rupert Davies — setbacks and opportunities
24 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
ESG investing has come under increased scrutiny for its ability to effect change in recent months, following the controversial Sustainable Finance Dis...
Penn raises the sports betting stakes with ESPN deal
17 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Casino operator Penn Entertainment is betting that a $2bn partnership with ESPN will supercharge the company’s foray into the online sports wagering...
Q&A with Marlene Ruf, on Leoni’s restructuring
10 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
German wire and cables manufacturer Leoni is in the process of implementing its restructuring plan, approved by the Nurembourg court under the new Ger...
Talking junior capital with Chris Wright of Crescent
04 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes it feels like the next wave of distress in the debt markets is always two quarters away. What if it’s already here — less of a tsunami a...
German Real Estate Special Report
27 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Recent developments in the German Real Estate industry have attracted significant attention due to controversial governance and questionable transacti...
The rulemaker that wants to be a rating agency
20 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Credit ratings are one of the foundations of modern credit markets — and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners wants in on the action....
Will Thames Water stay afloat?
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Will Thames Water’s overflowing £14bn debt pile lead to its downfall? Or should everyone pipe down?Bianca Boorer sits down with Owen Sanderson to d...
Securitize for a J.Crew reprise
06 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The infamous J.Crew maneuver was a bombshell, setting a blueprint for contentious liability management deals and sparking a wave of efforts to block s...
Pemberton’s Cassandra Fahy talks ESG in private credit
29 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Thanks to rising scrutiny from investors, ESG is no longer just a second thought in private credit dealmaking. It’s now a must-have.Private funds ar...
Talking Libor transition with Dan Ko, Eagle Point Credit Management
22 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The end of Libor is a little over a week away, and some US corporate borrowers are still racing to switch their floating rate loans to SOFR ahead of t...
SBB’s fall from grace
15 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Samhallsbyggnadsbolaget (SBB) has had a tough couple of months, after losing its investment grade rating and with some bondholders now arguing the com...
The household names in private credit, with Craig Packer of Blue Owl
08 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Private credit is attracting plenty of new faces these days, but as we wrote in this week’s Unicrunch newsletter, a handful of household names domin...
Pizza Express started a record label
01 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Why is Pizza Express getting into the music business? Well, these plans have been in the works for a while, and they actually make more sense than you...
Bruno Cova, Greenberg Traurig
30 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
9fin’s distressed reporter Bianca Boorer travels to Milan to sit down with Bruno Cova, Partner and European co-chair of restructuring and insolvency...
Artificial analysts aren't at all amazing
25 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ever pulled an all-nighter to prepare a pitch, or had your weekend ruined by a last-minute fire drill from your MD? Imagine if artificial intelligence...
Drop-downs, the Lycra variant
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Announcing a refinancing on the day your debt matures is an unusual move — and indeed, Lycra’s refinancing stretched some boundaries. But it’s a...
Focus and Foresight
11 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When is a change in control not a change of control? That is the question some Focus Financial lenders are asking after the company managed to finance...
Benteler, private take-privates and SFDR updates
04 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The 9fin team explores the influence of Benteler’s debut bond deal with Josh Latham. Josie Shillito guides us through the growing trend of private t...
The early days of private credit, with Tim Lyne of Antares Capital
27 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
These days, private credit is becoming so popular that you could be forgiven for thinking it was a recent invention.But some people were doing private...
Ben Thompson, JP Morgan
25 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
9fin sits down with Ben Thompson, JP Morgan's Head of EMEA Leveraged Finance Debt Capital Markets on 24 April 2023. He gives us his insights into how ...
Adler, 2022 Covenant Trends and ESG within LevFin
20 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The 9fin team takes a look into Adler’s restructuring in the UK High Court with Chris Haffenden. Brian Dearing takes us through a report on 2022 cov...
Preaching to the unconverted
13 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s kind of debt, and kind of equity. It’s been around for decades, but has recently come back into fashion.What is it? It’s convertible debt.C...
Liability Management with Andy Hagan, Tom Richards and Gilles Teerlinck of Weil, Gotshal & Manges
06 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Primary markets are not as simple as they used to be. How can borrowers navigate the choppy waters of today’s credit markets to manage their liabili...
Making marks in private credit
30 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Unlike liquid leveraged loans, private debt is not frequently traded (although there are signs that this might be changing) and thus can be hard to va...
Boris Okuliar, Ares
23 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
9fin sits down with Boris Okuliar, portfolio manager and co-head of Global Liquid Credit in the Ares Credit Group. He gives us his opinions on the sta...
Bank runs, bailouts and Basel
16 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As Mike Tyson once said, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Who knew he was predicting the policy response to the first big bank...
Tim Metzgen and Tom Paterson, A&M
09 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Katharine Hidalgo sits down with two debt advisers from Alvarez & Marsal to discuss what they foresee for the market. Tim Metzgen, Managing Direct...
The Fed, add-backs, et Cetera
02 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone knows interest rates are higher than they were last year. No-one can say for sure where they’ll be this time next year, but people have a f...
CLO demand
23 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The 9fin editorial team ask where are the deals? Securitisation reporter and acting levfin editor Owen Sanderson discusses CLO trends in 2023 and dema...
Optimus Subprime
16 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The US auto lending industry is a finance juggernaut, but not all auto loans are made equal. In this episode of Cloud 9fin, Will Caiger-Smith sits dow...
Ceconomy, 2022 covenants, ESG database
09 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The 9fin team takes a look into Ceconomy and its oversold risks with Emmet McNally. Brian Dearing gives us a preview into a report on 2022 covenant tr...
Tried so hard, and got SOFR...
03 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
...but in the end, does it even really matter? Leveraged loan investors are railing against suboptimal credit-spread adjustments as borrowers transiti...
Stuart Brinkworth, Mayer Brown
26 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Katharine Hidalgo sits down with Stuart Brinkworth to discuss private credit's latest trends. We discuss documentation, the impact of rising interest ...
New beginnings, old problems
19 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's our first US episode of 2023, and January is off to a flying start — at least for the high yield bond market. But what about loans, where banke...
2023 Predictions
12 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The 9fin editorial team discusses trends they expect to see in 2023 in the leveraged finance, restructuring and CLO spaces.
Veon, VimpelCom and Russian sanctions
22 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The holidays are upon us, but sanctions never sleep. This week, 9fin's Bianca Boorer has been in court covering Veon's creative use of UK restructurin...
2022 Review
16 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 9fin editorial team has been with you all year to discuss the major trends affecting the leveraged finance industry. In this 2022 wrap up we discu...
When MFN disputes meet private credit
08 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What does MFN stand for? Why does it appear in corporate credit agreements? Why would borrowers try to get around it and what happens when they succee...
PRI In Person Wrap Up - Net Zero special
01 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode the Cloud 9fin team discusses their experience of the PRI In Person conference in Barcelona and speaks to delegates from Neube...
Holiday news roundup
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's Thanksgiving week in the US, which normally means the beginning of the end for the year's primary issuance — but this year might not follow the...
Orpea, structural adjustments, SFDR disclosures
17 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 9fin content and analytics team wrap up the week's activity and co-head of European loans research Jainisha Amin discusses structural adjustments....
The CLO reinvestment crunch
10 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The primary market is back open (for now) but there's a slow squeeze happening in secondary. Liquidity is poor, and lower-rated credits are underperfo...
Maturity wall, Envision, SFDR
03 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 9fin content and analytics team wrap up the week's activity and senior legal analyst Alice Holian discusses dangerous covenant pitfalls with regar...
The direct lending wave, with Marisa Sotomayor of King & Spalding
27 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Moving or storage? Fix and flip or buy and hold? These days, investment banks are under increasing pressure to compete with private credit firms — t...
CLO market, subordination, Verisure
20 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 9fin content and analytics team wraps up the week's activity and co-head of European HY research Brian Dearing discusses subordination with regard...