Podcast
Cloud 9fin
Hosted by 9fin · EN
Leveraged finance, distressed debt, and private credit drive today’s markets. Cloud 9fin delivers expert insights on high-yield bonds, syndicated loans, direct lending, and debt restructuring. Join top analysts and investors as we explore credit markets, special situations, and private debt strategies shaping the industry.
From credit risk assessment to institutional credit trends, each episode provides actionable intelligence for fund managers, institutional investors, and financial professionals. Whether you’re tracking high-yield issuances, analyzing corporate debt, or uncovering distressed debt opportunities, we’ve got you covered.
Through its AI-powered data and analytics platform, 9fin provides everything you need to get your head around credit or win a mandate — all in one place. We help subscribers win business, outperform their peers and save time. Stay ahead in leveraged finance market trends—subscribe now for expert discussions on the forces moving global credit.
48episodes
Episodes
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Eat, sleep, drive — Breaking down the Del Monte, Serta & American Tire trifecta
3w ago00:28:01Tap to summarizeJudge Lopez’s Serta ruling lands after Del Monte and American Tire, putting pro rata sharing, sacred rights and LME damages back in the spotlight.Ropes & Gray’s Rachel Strickland and Eliza Hollander join 9fin Head of LMEs Jane Komsky to parse what these three cases mean for the future of in-court and out-of-court restructurings.The trio compares Judge Lopez, Judge Kaplan and Judge Goldblatt’s approaches to similar pro rata sharing language in very different settings: Serta outside bankruptcy, and Del Monte and American Tire inside Chapter 11, both with DIP fights.Strickland and Hollander examine whether roll-ups, cashless exchanges and DIP subordination should be treated as payments or reductions under legacy credit agreements, and why Fifth Circuit open-market purchase analysis continues to shape the debate. They also dig into ratable-offer mechanics, Serta-style uptiers, excluded lender remedies, par participation damages and the tension between textual contract interpretation and bankruptcy court equity.They also explore whether LME fatigue, litigation costs and the 2027-2028 maturity wall will push market participants towards ratable structures or efficient Chapter 11s.Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!
Transcribe →JP Morgan’s $1.5tn SRI targets Europe’s security supply chain
4w ago00:21:43Tap to summarizeDaniel Rudnicki Schlumberger, a 30-year JP Morgan veteran, sits down with senior leveraged finance reporter Nicolle Liu to unpack how the bank is exporting its Security and Resiliency Initiative (SRI) from the US to EMEA — mobilizing private capital for the sectors governments now treat as strategic.Schlumberger also discusses:The $1.5trn, 10-year target and the full capital stack behind it: balance-sheet lending, syndicated loans, high yield, equity private placements, IPOs, venture and direct lending, second lien, PIK and hybrid capital;Where the money is going: aerospace and defense, nuclear, wind, solar, grid resiliency, AI, quantum, cyber, rare minerals, shipbuilding, robotics and critical medicines;Deals in focus: Oxford Quantum Circuits' equity private placement, Czechoslovak Group's HY bond and defense IPO, and CoreWeave's debut euro bond;Plus: private equity's push into defense consolidation, the sovereign data center question, government engagement, and how JP Morgan is staffing up its SRI team.Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!
Transcribe →Can Indian private credit growth hit 30%?
Jul 900:29:00Tap to summarizeIndia’s private credit market is moving from IBC-era rescue finance to a broader asset class. Performing credit is hot, but complexity-driven capital remains scarce and potentially higher alpha.InCred Alternatives’ Ankur Jain, who is a managing director for private credit strategies, tells 9fin APAC reporter Rajhkumar Shaaw about a market that is still only about $25bn-$30bn in AUM, or 0.6% of GDP, but growing at roughly 25% CAGR.Jain also unpacks India’s private credit boom, why global macro has had limited impact on India-focused borrowers, and how domestic funds and wealth-market co-investments are increasingly challenging foreign investors.Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!
Transcribe →Claude Code shook credit. What breaks next?
Jul 200:25:38Tap to summarizeA major theme of the first half of 2026 was Anthropic’s Claude Code triggering a software sell-off that is still reshaping private credit, BSL and distressed debt. In the latest episode of Cloud 9fin Dan Mika, Anna Russi and Samantha Stokes unpack the first half of the year and what shocks await in the second half.The team reviews a volatile first half that began with optimism around M&A, Hologic, Electronic Arts and new-money LBO supply, before the software sell-off and Iran war changed the tone. Dan Mika contrasts IG M&A volume with weaker high-yield and leveraged loan activity, while Anna Russi explains how private credit lenders are reassessing software underwriting after Medallia handed keys to lenders. Samantha Stokes discusses distressed credits trading down ahead of 2028 and 2029 maturity walls, with lenders wary of long-dated refis as AI risk remains hard to price.The episode also covers the limited but sector-specific impact of the Iran war on chemicals, building products and airlines, including Tronox, Cornerstone Building Brands and Spirit Airlines. Looking ahead, the team flags private credit liquidity stress, retail redemptions, portfolio sales at managers including Blue Owl, Apollo, FS KKR and New Mountain, rising secondaries activity, Mudrick’s LME fund and the risk of higher-for-longer SOFR.Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!
Transcribe →El Niño is Spanish for … The Niño
Jun 2600:19:59Tap to summarizeEl Niño is back, and *Cloud 9fin’*s LatAm and CEEMEA editors see credit risks spreading across energy, agriculture and sovereign balance sheets.Deputy LevFin Editor Sasha Padbidri speaks with LatAm Editor Xochitl Herrera and CEEMEA Editor Dan Alderson on how worsening weather shocks are feeding into leveraged credit and emerging market risk.In Colombia, drought could cut hydropower output just as gas production falls, forcing more imports while Canacol works through a Canadian restructuring process. Xochitl also flags Mexico’s exposure to Henry Hub through gas imports, Chilean utilities’ hydropower upside, and Brazil’s soybean and corn vulnerability.Dan breaks down Africa’s uneven El Niño effects, from Southern African drought to East African flooding, against a backdrop of food, fuel and fertilizer disruption.Here’s a summary of the 9fin articles mentioned in the podcast:Africa vs Godzilla El Niño — Key battle lines for credit in 2026/27Colombia braces for perfect storm as El Niño looms over gas crisisFEMSA, KOF and Alsea may benefit from El Niño effectEl Niño could lift Chile utilities, but less than last timeBrazil climate whiplash could put key credits to the testHouston, we have a solution — How space data centers could be debt's next frontierHurricane Helene hits southeastern US borrowersHurricane Beryl shakes up Texas borrowers$98bn in AI projects disrupted by mounting environmental and labor risksResistance is fertile — Iran war’s impact on agriculture and CPIHave any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!
Transcribe →Stepping into the ‘Archieverse’
Jun 1100:26:44Tap to summarizeWhen an announcement was made last year that Universal Studios was making a movie about Archie Andrews produced by Hollywood heavyweights, it should have been a victory for one of comics’ most enduring franchises. Instead, it triggered a legal war which ties up a Beverly Hills mansion, accusations of threats fit for an “organized crime figure” and a much-awaited movie on the line.With a UCC foreclosure auction set for June 15, the fate of Archie Andrews — and the Archie Comics empire — hangs in the balance.In this episode, 9fin’s global head of distressed and LevFin, Max Frumes, sat down with distressed debt reporter Maria Heeter and LME legal analyst Laurie Tomassian, co-authors of a recent investigation into the dispute between lender Raven Capital and Archie Comics co-CEO Jonathan Goldwater to break down how it all unraveled.As a quick shoutout, the episode references and includes short audio clips from the 1969 hit 'Sugar, Sugar' by the fictional bubblegum-pop group, The Archies. The song held the #1 spot on the Billboard Top 100 for eight weeks between October and December 1969. The episode theme song is a tongue-in-cheek homage to The Archies’ second studio album, Everything’s Archie, created bespoke for this episode by our producer Chase Collum.Clarifications: There's actually no show called “Desperate Mormon Housewives. Instead the popular reality television series was called "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives". Also, while Archie Comics did once don the wrappers of Topps bubble gum, that was in the 1950s, and the host was almost certainly referring to Bazooka Joe.Have any feedback on this episode? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!
Transcribe →The In-court Report — What Bitcoin Depot’s bankruptcy means for creditors (and scam syndicates)
Jun 900:29:28Tap to summarizeBitcoin Depot went from a $600m, publicly-traded business to bankrupt in a matter of months, but the story around the company and other crypto ATM providers has been brewing for years. We happen to have just the guy on staff to break it all down.In this episode of Cloud 9fin, head of bankruptcy Cat Corey talks with senior LevFin reporter Dan Mika about his previous reporting on the crypto ATM industry’s history of targeting neighborhoods of color, and how it has become a favorite tool for organized scam groups to separate victims from their cash. The two also talk about what value is left for creditors in a business model where — in the eyes of lawmakers — the societal harm is too great to ignore.Have any questions? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!Stories referenced in this pod:- High-fee crypto ATMs center around low-income parts of Kansas City- How Crypto ATMs in the U.S. Became A Favorite Tool for Scammers- FBI Internet Crime Report 2025
Transcribe →Syndication Nation — The tie-up between insurance and America’s AI buildout
Jun 500:39:20Tap to summarizeIn our latest episode of Syndication Nation, leveraged finance reporter Sunny Oh sits down with Mark Melchiorre, chief investment officer of Forza Investment Group, to discuss how insurance-focused asset managers are helping to finance America’s new “Manhattan Project” — the rapid buildout of tech and AI-driven digital infrastructure.Melchiorre discusses his journey through credit markets and the appeal of hybrid capital in a world of growing dispersion. He also talks about the prospects for small modular nuclear reactors, which have garnered interest as power proves to be a key bottleneck in the race to develop new data centers.Check out coverage on leveraged finance and private credit at 9fin.com.Have any feedback on the podcasts? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com — thanks for listening!
Transcribe →Private Chat — Fundraising and secondaries during private credit’s liquidity crunch
Jun 100:40:39Tap to summarizeIt seems that over the past few months, you could sum up the troubles facing private credit with one word: ‘illiquidity.’ This is a key tenet of the asset class, and it is often cited among the reasons for private credit’s premium. But it also can pose challenges, as seen through record redemption requests from non-traded BDCs and the dilemma of managing the tail end of a fund’s life.Two paths to manage those challenges are to raise more money and engage in secondary transactions. So, who better to ask about this moment in private credit than Campbell Lutyen’s global head of private credit Jeffrey Griffiths, whose team leads private credit fundraising and secondaries advisory.In this episode of Cloud 9fin’s Private Chat series, reporter Tom Quinn checks in with Griffiths to learn about the state of the fundraising market and how secondary transactions are taking shape.Have any feedback? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com — thanks for listening!
Transcribe →Distressed Diaries — Will the SUNs shine on Arxada A&E deal?
May 2900:20:19Tap to summarizeSponsors Bain and Cinven are confident creditors will approve the A&E deal for Arxada, despite opposition from its senior unsecured bondholders. But is that confidence based on sunny optimism?9fin sources say negotiations are ongoing with the SUNs in the background as the deadline to sign up for the deal is today (28 May). The company may look to extend by a day, Cinven partner Christopher Anderson, said on a Q1 26 earnings call yesterday (27 May).The company received over 90% support from its secured creditors last week, Anderson said. However, he did not give an update on the SUN consent threshold, which was a meagre 20% at the deal launch on 13 May.The company needs 75% from each class of creditors to implement the deal through an English scheme of arrangement, which it filed for on 26 May.In this episode of Distressed Diaries, host and senior reporter Bianca Boorer speaks with distressed credit analyst Yusuf Sule and senior legal consultant Luke Viner about the A&E deal, creditor sentiment, what could happen if it goes to court, and how the company might handle the unconsenting SUNs.
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