The chapter explores the changing landscape of the private credit market, examining how traditional structures have been disrupted by recent events like the J.Crew case. It delves into the dynamics of lender protections, the influence of opportunistic funds, and the evolving roles of different stakeholders in private credit deals. The discussion highlights the increasing complexity in the market, with a focus on legal battles, evolving lender dynamics, and the emergence of bespoke solutions tailored to companies' unique challenges.
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 management exercises’.
Both terms are euphemistic — so what are we actually talking about here? And what happens when these often quite bruising battles between companies, their sponsors and their lenders, take place in the (supposedly) quieter and more genteel world of private credit?
For this week’s episode of Cloud 9fin, our host Will Caiger-Smith hits up Damian Ridealgh and H.T. Flanagan of Freshfields to figure out how liability management became all the rage, and how lenders are trying to protect themselves against it.