Cloud 9fin

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...

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 Komsky dives into the latest news in liability management. Joined by 9fin global head of distressed and restructuring Max Frumes and 9fin head of legal James Wallick, Jane walks through the landmark decision out of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in th...

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 head of CLOs at 9fin , talks with Pratik Gupta, head of CLO and RMBS research at Bank of America, to discuss the outlook for 2025. They talk about ETFs, performance across the CLO capital structure, LMEs, co-op agreements, HY bond buckets and why 2025...

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 week’s episode of Cloud 9fin as global head of distressed debt and restructuring Max Frumes talks with Mike Harmon about his forthcoming book The Financial Restructuring Tool Set: How to Fix Your Broken Balance Sheet . They talk about the various ways t...

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 her work at Fox Legal Training and Good Girl to Goddess . In this episode of Cloud 9fin , ESG analyst Jennifer Munnings sits down with Sabrina to explore how ELFA has shaped buyside engagement and elevated standards in credit markets. From the rise...

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 made possible by the private credit firms which have cultivated a lower middle market lending strategy. But lower middle market lending is, of course, not without its challenges. Intensifying competition from firms honing in on the space and a compl...

More and more, the lines are blurring between our private credit and distressed coverage. In this episode of Cloud 9fin , private credit editor David Brooke mines the reportage of Bianca Boorer, senior distressed debt reporter, and Shubham Saharan, senior private credit reporter. They talk about the challenge Lycra ’s stakeholders face in navigating the company’s balance sheet, and why the company...

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 episode of Cloud 9fin , produced in partnership with Arena Investors, senior private credit reporter Peter Benson sits down with Arena co-founding CEO and CIO Dan Zwirn to talk through his latest white paper. He takes a contrarian look at the direct lendin...

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 holding its ground on a year-to-date basis. In this week’s episode of Cloud 9fin , private credit editor David Brooke digs into the data with analysts Devin McGinley and Elijah Jackson. They chat through the trends, diving into their respective Q3 2024...

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 this week’s Presidential election mean for debt capital markets? It’s a little early to give a comprehensive answer, but in this special edition of Cloud 9fin we’ve done our best to touch on some of the big issues. Tune in to hear Will Caiger-Smith and Sa...