Cloud 9fin

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 offices allocating to CLOs. They talk about how CLO equity and mezz ticks all the boxes for family offices, the need for more double-B CLO funds, captive equity vs third party equity funds, and how CLO managers need to do more to educate family of...

In the inaugural episode of Syndication Nation , 9fin ’s podcast on all things syndicated debt, deputy editor William Hoffman joined US managing editor Bill Weisbrod to talk about his recent coverage of Warner Bros. Discovery and its $37bn of debt to high yield by S&P. They discussed what led to the downgrade, the prospects for the company reaching full-blown fallen angel status, and broader i...

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 of podcasts at 9fin , sat down with Scott Alintoff at FIS to discuss how lenders can ensure they’re staying ahead in these turbulent times. In this third of a series of discussions, Scott shares a high level view of the state of the market, current chal...

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 enter into accelerated safeguard proceedings, we went through what happened so far in our inaugural episode of Distressed Diaries — a brand new 9fin podcast series focused on distressed debt in Europe. Senior distressed reporter Bianca Boorer, host o...

US tariff policy has unleashed economic uncertainty both domestically and elsewhere. Even after a de-escalation of the worst trade tensions with China, things are still unclear. In this episode of Cloud 9fin , distressed debt reporter Max Reyes sits down with Canyon Partners opportunistic credit co-heads Chaney Sheffield and Jonathan Barzideh to better understand what unique investments can be mad...

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 the nascent and niche areas like venture debt and tech lending. In this episode of Cloud 9fin , senior private credit reporter Peter Benson sits down with Ron Daniel, co-founder and CEO of Liquidity Group, a direct lender focused on tech lending. T...

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. And anyone who’s been there can tell you that the hard truth for certain companies is that no plan could have ever saved it — or as Jon Weber would say: “If the baby’s ugly, the baby’s ugly.” In this week’s episode of Cloud 9fin , senior private credit rep...

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. But what does ever-changing US tariff policy and associated market volatility mean for private credit firms? How do direct lenders keep protect themselves from the fallout and what are the key points in credit agreements these days? Join 9fin ’s se...

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 Matt Maxwell, head of US loans, to discuss how CLO managers are positioning themselves in the current tariff induced volatility. They talk about taking advantage of the dislocation in the market, sector specific tariff risk, opportunities for a pull to...

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 Kamensky, to discuss treatment for similarly situated creditors within liability management exercises. They discuss when disparity in treatment becomes an issue, lender tools to fight back, and where advocacy is most needed. Find all our coverage on c...

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 they like covenants. With some larger private credit managers jostling for deals at the upper end of the middle market, a larger number are sticking to their knitting in focusing on financing those smaller companies. It’s private credit’s historical s...

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 troubled packaging conglomerate is getting a taste of both the potential upside and the backlash caused by these controversial financial maneuvers. In this episode, 9fin 's global head of restructuring, Max Frumes, sat down with European senior dist...

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 talking about the middle office here, of course. The middle office may not always be in the spotlight, but when loan data goes awry it’s the team that keeps the gears turning and numbers in check. In this episode, head of podcasts Chase Collum chats with...

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 persist? What implications does this technological shift hold for analysts' jobs? And how is 9fin deploying AI to address specific challenges confronting debt market professionals? Sujeet Indap, Wall Street editor at the Financial Times, sat down with St...

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 machines to transmit some loans data. In our latest Cloud 9fin episode, Chase Collum, head of podcasts, and private credit analyst Devin McGinley, sit down with John Smullen, product manager at FIS. They chat about how global data trends are shaping strate...

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 Greenberg, to discuss the evolution of cooperation agreements within liability management exercises. They discuss the different types of co-ops, why co-ops have become expected in US deals, their spread to the EU, and the validity of antitrust arguments....

Three media companies, in vaguely the same vicinity, in fair debt markets where we lay our scene — where ancient business models encounter new scrutiny, and AI generates images you can’t unsee… Valentine’s Day has been and gone, so why on earth are we besmirching Romeo and Juliet with terrible puns? You should listen to the episode for the full picture, but basically we’re discussing three recent...

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 already seen BlackRock's $1.3bn continuation vehicle last year, and some market participants are expecting to see even more in 2025. On the other side however, this might not be as straight forward as in the PE world, and there is a growing pool of...

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 surprise that we think it’s interesting. But in the world of Significant Risk Transfer, it’s especially fascinating — and controversial. You may have caught the story that Celeste Tamers, part of our growing asset-based finance team, broke last week a...

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 & Watkins partner George Klidonas and C Street founder and CEO Jon Henes, to discuss the Better Health  transaction and its implications for future LMEs. Also under discussion: how liability management has taken off as an industry, how law firms and advis...

Publicly traded leveraged debt issuers are facing a collective maturity wall of $219 billion in the coming years. But unlike the Chiefs' offensive line in the Super Bowl, credit market watchers aren't expecting that wall to collapse. In this episode of Cloud 9fin , US managing editor Bill Weisbrod sits down with credit analyst Ben Dickerman and leveraged finance reporter Dan Mika about their recen...

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 time as an investment opportunity. Many regulatory changes in the past year and an increasing number of emerging sports leagues have brought it back into view to begin this year. In this episode of Cloud 9fin , senior reporter Peter Benson sits down wi...

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 dealflow has bounced back and forth between the two over recent years — but markets are a lot more complex than a game of table tennis. In this episode of Cloud 9fin , Synne Johnsson sits down with Soren Christensen, partner and head of capital markets at C...

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 credits are starting to feel the heat. In this week’s episode of Cloud 9fin , US managing editor Bill Weisbrod and deputy leveraged finance editor Sasha Padbidri survey the extent of the damage and discuss which industries are among the most impacted....

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 raised was far less significant than the drop in the number of funds that were closed. In this week’s episode of Cloud 9fin , US private credit editor David Brooke and reporter Anna Russi discuss the latest results in private credit fundraising and how...