Cloud 9fin

Επεισόδια

• Stepping into the ‘Archieverse’ 11.06.2026 26λ

  When 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!
• The In-court Report — What Bitcoin Depot’s bankruptcy means for creditors (and scam syndicates) 09.06.2026 29λ

  Bitcoin 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
• Syndication Nation — The tie-up between insurance and America’s AI buildout 05.06.2026 39λ

  In 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!
• Private Chat — Fundraising and secondaries during private credit’s liquidity crunch 01.06.2026 40λ

  It 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!
• Distressed Diaries — Will the SUNs shine on Arxada A&E deal? 28.05.2026 20λ

  Sponsors 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.
• Syndication Nation — From mega-cap to megawatts: How AI data center bonds are rewriting the credit playbook 27.05.2026 24λ

  In our latest episode of Syndication Nation, US investment grade editor William Hoffman and senior leveraged finance reporter Sunny Oh discuss one of the hottest topics in corporate credit — data center bonds.With billions of dollars of fresh debt hitting both high-grade and high-yield markets to finance the AI infrastructure buildout, investors are being asked to underwrite these project finance-type deals. That’s changing the job of the average tech credit analyst, forcing them to exercise a due diligence muscle they don’t typically use.For more detail, read Will, Sunny, Yiwen and Dan’s latest piece discussing all the nuances and structures that lenders say can make or break one of these bond offerings. Find all our coverage of this new debt class at 9fin.com.Have any feedback for us? Send a note to podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!
• Syndication Nation — The $81bn HY/IG jigsaw puzzle behind Paramount-WBD 07.05.2026 21λ

  In our latest episode of Syndication Nation, US investment grade editor William Hoffman and LevFin senior reporter Sunny Oh break down a complicated mess of debt headed for the primary in the back half of 2026 to fund the combination of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery.The debt stack is expected to include $32bn of existing bonds and $49bn of newly syndicated debt split across asset classes for one of the largest financings of the year.For more detail, read William, Sunny and Will Macadam’s latest piece breaking down the colossal $81bn debt stack that will finance this deal. Find all our coverage of the Paramount-WBD deal at 9fin.com.  Have any feedback for us? Send a note to podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!
• Tranche Talk — Unlocking value in infra CLOs with RRAM’s Anjana Ravani 05.05.2026 21λ

  In this episode of Tranche Talk, *Cloud 9fin’*s CLO series, our global head of CLOs Tanvi Gupta, talks with Anjana Mohan Ravani, head of CLOs and corporate ABS at Redding Ridge Asset Management.They dive into infrastructure CLOs as an exciting growth area and discuss the value proposition for investors looking to underwrite the asset class and what the portfolio composition would look like for these deals.They also delve into the lay of the land in private credit, CLO triple-A investor sentiment and the potential misconceptions about captive equity returns.
• Syndication Nation — Is software credit headed for terminal decline? 28.04.2026 29λ

  In this episode of Syndicated Nation, senior reporter Sunny Oh welcomes Lotfi Karoui, managing director and multi-asset credit strategist for Pimco, to discuss how corporate credit has managed to hold up in the face of geopolitical jitters from the Middle East and worries around the terminal value of software businesses.Karoui also addresses the relative liquidity between direct lending and 144a private placements — often conflated with private credit — the growing dispersion of loan marks in business development vehicles, and questions around whether public bond markets can absorb the flood of data-center-driven issuance spurred by hyperscalers’ AI spending.Find all of our coverage on leveraged finance and corporate credit at 9fin.com.Have any feedback on the podcast? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com — thanks for listening!
• Jane’s LME Addiction — Will law firm musical chairs bring LMEs 3.0? 24.04.2026 22λ

  In this episode of Jane’s LME Addiction, our head of LME coverage Jane Komsky welcomes back Jon Henes, founder and CEO of strategic communications firm C Street to discuss the market’s shift from the technical "how-to" of liability management transactions to the fundamental "why."Jon addresses the growing skepticism surrounding the efficacy of these deals, the strategic vision behind C Street’s new law firm optimization practice and explores whether the "musical chairs" of elite legal talent is ushering in a new era of consensual capital solutions or simply more complex bankruptcies.Find all our coverage on LMEs at 9fin.com.Have any feedback on the podcast? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com — thanks for listening!
• Straight outta Hormuz — credit analysis in the age of macroshocks 16.04.2026 20λ

  While the software sell-off was the story of the markets in January, the war between the US and Iran has dominated headlines since the end of February.Back in September, 9fin highlighted a closure of the Strait of Hormuz as a black swan event that would shock the oil markets. When that scenario moved from a remote possibility to an impending risk, the team revisited the situation and outlined the first and second-order impacts of a potential strike — and then the war began.In this episode, 9fin’s global head of distressed and LevFin Max Frumes is joined by senior credit analyst Alec Keblish to score the call: what they got right, what this tells us about prevailing market sentiment, and which sectors and individual issuers still contain pockets of volatility or opportunity even if the war were to conclude today.Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!
• Syndication Nation — I just came to say HALO 14.04.2026 8λ

  The HALO (heavy assets, low obsolescence) trade has gained traction in recent months — particularly in the equity markets — as investors turn away from software businesses amid AI displacement concerns.In this week’s episode of Syndication Nation, 9fin’s podcast on all things leveraged finance, LevFin reporter David Westenhaver joins US deputy editor Sasha Padbidri in unpacking HALO for our side of the market — which credits are actually benefitting from the trade, and whether this is truly a safe haven for LevFin investors.Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!
• Lessons learned from the corrosion of Exide Technologies with George Schultze 09.04.2026 39λ

  Everyone remembers their first car… lead-acid battery supplier bankruptcy.For Max Frumes, 9fin’s global head of distressed debt and LevFin, that situation was Exide Technologies. It was the first full cycle of distress, bankruptcy and emergence that he covered in his storied career.And George Schultze, founder and CEO of Schultze Asset Management and author of The Art of Vulture Investing, was an investor during that Exide bankruptcy — the second one, anyway — which taught him some valuable lessons about the importance of being nimble. And, of course, that regulatory factors are more likely to upend distressed investing strategies than support them.In this latest episode of Cloud 9fin, Max and George compare notes, reminisce, and banter about a wide spectrum of distressed companies past and present.Thanks for listening! Have any feedback for us? Send a note to podcast@9fin.com.
• LME Doomscrolling — Data-driven reality check 07.04.2026 38λ

  We’re kicking off a new podcast series, LME Doomscrolling with Laurie, where 9fin’s senior LME lawyer Laurie Tomassian unpacks the impact, risks and incentives of the evolving landscape of liability management exercises.In this inaugural episode, Laurie sits down with Professor Mark Roe and researcher Vasile Rotaru of Harvard Law School to explore their new study which measures how non-pro rata coercive LMEs fare in the long run. They discuss whether LMEs deliver on their promise(s) to sustainably extend a distressed company’s runway.Their study, entitled Liability Management’s Limited Runway: Corporate Restructuring Today, can be found here.Have any questions? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com.
• Decoding the software lending shock in private credit with MSCI 03.04.2026 14λ

  The recent sell-off in software has sparked a broader reassessment of risk across private credit. But are managers pulling back from risk, or just recalibrating how they price it?In this episode of Cloud 9fin, private credit reporter Anna Russi sits down with Patrick Warren, head of private credit research at MSCI, to unpack what’s driving the shift. Drawing on new data, they explore where signs of stress are emerging in software lending and venture debt, how valuation marks could be masking underlying pressures, and what this reveals about risk, performance, and portfolio assumptions in today’s market.Have any feedback for us? Send a note to podcast@9fin.com.
• China’s property developers return to offshore bond markets 30.03.2026 24λ
• Syndication Nation — The ride goes on at Six Flags, but the story isn’t settled 25.03.2026 11λ

  In this episode of Syndication Nation, 9fin’s podcast on all things leveraged finance, LevFin reporter David Westenhaver joins US deputy editor Sasha Padbidri to discuss his recent reporting on the wild ride that is Six Flags.Fresh off the heels of a major refinancing, the company offloaded a handful of parks with the goal of deleveraging and focusing investment on a smaller portfolio. But will that be enough to fix the balance sheet? Or, after a decade of missteps, can the amusement park owner’s new CEO complete the operational turnaround that investors have sought for years?Follow our reporting on Six Flags at 9fin.com. Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!Footnote: The podcast mentions that Knott’s Berry Farm has one of the oldest wooden roller coasters, and that it is 65 years old. The roller coaster referenced was GhostRider, which was built in 1998. The oldest continuously operational wooden roller coaster in the world is Scenic Railway in Luna Park, Melbourne, Australia. The coaster entered operations in 1912.
• Distressed Diaries — Iran war adds to bad chemistry 23.03.2026 24λ

  The Chemicals sector has been suffering from geopolitical tensions since Russian invaded Ukraine four years ago. Now with US President Donald Trump’s war in Iran and ongoing worldwide tariffs, volatility is higher than ever.In this episode of Distressed Diaries, our host senior reporter Bianca Boorer sits down with Kunal Shah, the founder and chief investment officer of London-based hedge fund PVTL point, and his partner and member of the investment team Ryan Flew, to discuss how the latest conflict in the Middle East is impacting the sector.What is the sector doing to cope with these challenges? Are European governments doing enough to help? Is UK chemicals producer INEOS out of the woods yet? Where do opportunities lie for distressed investors in this uncertain environment?Tune in to find out!
• Tranche Talk — Navigating CLO trading technicals with Performance Trust’s Alex Navin 20.03.2026 41λ

  In this episode of Tranche Talk, Cloud 9fin’s CLO series, our global head of CLOs, Tanvi Gupta, talks with Alex Navin, managing director at Performance Trust Capital Partners.They discuss how CLO tranches are trading in this macro backdrop, triple-A liquidity, the influence of vintage on CLO trading, relative value between the US and Europe and how this pocket of volatility is different to anything we’ve seen since 2020.They also delve into the uncertainty surrounding uncovered double-B MVOCs, the year ahead for CLO equity returns and if there are any equity hedges out there.Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!
• Syndication Nation — Credit investors turn to prediction market odds amid macro uncertainty 16.03.2026 11λ

  In this episode of Syndication Nation, 9fin’s podcast on all things leveraged finance, US LevFin reporter Zoe Han joins US managing editor Bill Weisbrod to discuss her recent reporting on the explosive growth of prediction markets — and whether credit investors are actually all in or just hedging their bets.Are prediction markets a legitimate “truth machine” for LevFin dealmakers? Listen in and draw your own conclusion!Got a hot take or just need to vent after blowing your bonus on a bad bet? Drop us a note at podcast@9fin.com.