CLOs Uncovered

In this episode Hina Shoeb & Sandeep Chana spoke with Lukas Brockmann about PortaVentura's amend and extend deal and S&P Global Ratings' rationale for considering it as opportunistic. The theme park operator International Park Holding (PortaVentura) extended maturity and upsized its deal while meeting ongoing leisure demands. This is S&P Global Ratings' only cross sector podcast, providing market...

U.S. and Canadian companies have been raising prices over the past year or so in an effort to restore margins. A few fully done so, but many others' margins have eroded. In this episode of The Upgrade podcast Hanna Zhang, and Minesh Patel discuss key highlights from our recently published articles,  "U.S. Leveraged Finance Q4 2022 Update: Inflation Pressures Hit Margins, Rate Rises To Hit Cash Flo...

We are happy to be back with a new series of the Leveraged Finance & CLOs Uncovered podcast. In this episode your regular hosts Hina Shoeb & Sandeep Chana talk with Raquel Delgado Galicia about Nord Anglia's (Bach Finance) refinancing on strong footing thanks to improved performance, reduced leverage, & expected organic growth and the credit factors behind the upgrade to 'B'.

On average, during the previous three recessions (2001, 2009, and 2020), about a quarter of 'B-' rated companies were downgraded to 'CCC', 'CC', or 'C' within the recession year, an indication of the vulnerability of the increasingly crowded 'B-' space. In this episode of The Upgrade podcast Hanna Zhang, Dan Hu, and Minesh Patel discuss key highlights from our recently published articles, " U.S. L...

Diverging trends between benchmark rates and credit spreads in leveraged loan pricing in the majority of quarters over the past 15 years have kept loan funding costs in check, but the trend reversed in 2022. In this episode of The Upgrade podcast Ramki Muthukrishnan, Omkar Athalekar, and Minesh Patel discuss key highlights from our recently published article, " Leveraged Finance: Leveraged Loan Ma...

Loan investors are becoming increasingly concerned about the risk of aggressive out-of-court restructurings, given weaker lender protections within credit documentation. In this episode of The Upgrade podcast Bek Sunnu, Steve Wilkinson, and Minesh Patel discuss key highlights from our recently published article, "Envision Healthcare Corp.'s Two Major Restructurings in 100 Days". Related Articles:...

Credit quality has proven resilient as some credit measures return to (or in some sectors are better than) pre-pandemic levels. Nevertheless, risks are weighted to the downside as profit growth momentum and macroeconomic activity slow. In this episode of The Upgrade podcast Hanna Zhang and Minesh Patel discuss key highlights from our recently published article titled " U.S. Leveraged Finance Q2 20...

Shifting markets has resulted in CLO structures and documents being reassessed. Listen in to this special episode where Hina & Sandeep are joined by Abhijit Pawar, Senior Analyst from our Structured Finance Team.

In this episode Hina & Sandeep are joined by Lukas Brockmann, analyst on Action. Listen how a value discounter in Benelux, with improving geographical diversification supports earnings resilience.

In this episode of The Upgrade podcast, Alessio Di Francesco, Steve Wilkinson, Daniel Hu, and Minesh Patel discuss Envision Healthcare Corp.'s recent distressed exchange, ongoing operational challenges, and rating drivers. Our latest research titled " Envision Healthcare Corp. Upgraded To 'CCC' From 'SD' And Placed On CreditWatch Negative Following Distressed Exchange " can be found here . For mor...

In this episode of The Upgrade podcast, Hanna Zhang and Minesh Patel discuss interest rate and cash flow pressures faced by our lowly rated 'B-' issuers, as well as key highlights from our recently published article titled " U.S. Leveraged Finance Q1 2022 Update: Free Operating Cash Flow Is Put To The Test As Headwinds Blow Harder ." For more Leveraged Finance and CLOs Insights visit Leveraged Fin...

In this episode we are joined by Pascal Seguier, primary analyst on Tarkett. Listen in on how elevated raw material prices and geopolitical tensions are altering its credit quality. For more Leveraged Finance and CLOs Insights visit Leveraged Finance & CLOs Essentials

In this episode Hina & Sandeep are joined by Ruth Yang, Global Head of Thought Leadership as their guest. Listen to their discussion and hear about the current challenges to the credit markets. Our aim is to provide market participants with further advanced analytical insight into Corporate Credits, CLOs and Leveraged Finance deals, with S&P Global Ratings regular podcast, based on key features we...

In this episode Hina & Sandeep are joined by Simon Redmond, Sector Lead for Oil & Gas as their guest. Listen to their discussion and hear about the impact of the geopolitical crisis on Oil & Gas prices and whether it may delay the transition to cleaner fuel. Related Articles: Europe's Exit From Russian Gas: 10 Questions On Utilities Extremely High And Volatile Gas Prices Signal A Structural Shift...

Hina Shoeb & Sandeep Chana are joined by Winston Chang -Chief Analytical- Structured Finance practice where they discuss direct and indirect impact of the geopolitical crisis and how some sectors are more impacted than others. Read the related article here >> For more Leveraged Finance and CLOs Insights visit Leveraged Finance & CLOs Essentials

For our second episode of the year, Hina & Sandeep are joined by. Marta Stojanova from European Leveraged Finance team where we discuss how upgrades outpaced downgrades since the start of 2021, new issuer activity and a deep dive on default rates for 2021 and expectations on 2022. Our aim is to provide market participants with further advanced analytical insight into Corporate Credits, CLOs and Le...

In this episode of The Upgrade podcast, Ramki Muthukrishan and Daniel Hu discuss the rapid growth of middle-market lending, as well as key highlights from our recently published article titled " A Credit-Cycle Turn Could Expose Vulnerabilities In The Middle Market ". Our aim is to provide market participants with further advanced analytical insight into Corporate Credits, CLOs and Leveraged Financ...

For our first episode of the year, Hina & Sandeep are joined by Paul Watters, Head of Credit Research for EMEA, to discuss our house views on issues that could impact Corporates in 2022. Listen in and hear about inflationary pressures, evolving geopolitical landscape and default expectations for 2022. Our aim is to provide market participants with further advanced analytical insight into Corporate...

In this episode of The Upgrade podcast, we discuss S&P Global Ratings' fourth annual analysis of EBITDA addbacks. It finds most U.S. speculative-grade corporate issuers continue to be unable to achieve the earnings, debt, and leverage projections. We also discuss if EBITDA adjustments are an accurate picture of future earnings. Related Article: EBITDA Addbacks Continue To Stack

In this episode of The Upgrade podcast, we discuss lender recoveries during the 2020 and 2021 default cycle, as well as key highlights from our recently published article Recovering From COVID-19: Why The Timing Of Bankruptcy and Emergence Matters For Debt Recovery.

In this episode of The Upgrade podcast we discuss research into dilution of First-Lien credit quality from weakening debt structures and loan terms, as well as takeaways from the recent OPAL conference - one of the first in-person CLO conferences since March 2020.

In this episode of The Upgrade podcast we discuss why the default rate is so low - and expected to remain so well into next year - even as the CCC ratings cohort is so large. We also talk about past and present CLO exposure to the CCC category.

In this episode of The Upgrade podcast we discuss the recent large LBO of healthcare sector company Medline. Topics include our views on the company's business, financial and debt recovery prospects, as well as how Medline compares to existing CLO collateral. Guests include analysts from S&P's corporate healthcare, recovery, and CLO teams.

In this episode of The Upgrade podcast we discuss recent research showing how quickly PE backed M&A returned, the higher leverage in PE deals, and which sectors have been most active with M&A. We also look what the proliferation of B- rated issuers, largely due to PE ownership, means for CLO portfolios.