Cloud 9fin

Unpacking JP Morgan’s lower middle market push

JP Morgan’s investment banking unit is so massive it has become almost synonymous with record-breaking financings. But a new initiative is expanding the bank’s coverage to include a segment of the market often overlooked by the largest institutions on the street: small-cap deals. This past July — just months after the firm’s bankers led the financing for Electronic Arts, the largest buyout in history — JP Morgan announced an expansion of its middle market team to focus on transactions valued at between $100m and $500m. The team has grown since. Yesterday morning (27 October), JP Morgan announced the addition of four managing directors to the small-cap team, bringing head count to 12 bankers. The small-cap space has for years had its own ecosystem: specialized investment banks, small sponsors and direct lenders fueled growth while their larger counterparts focused on transactions with bigger price tags. Recent years, however, have brought a slowdown in M&A, especially in the sponsor market, and industry players are looking down-market at opportunities to deploy capital. In this episode of Cloud 9fin, JP Morgan’s Michael Flynn, the new head of the small-cap investment banking team, talks with 9fin’s Tom Quinn about why we are seeing such growth in the space now, the role of the bank’s direct lending arm in small cap advisory work and issues founders face that are unique to the smaller market. Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!

Jane’s LME Addiction — David Skeel talks priorities and Promesas in restructuring Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico may have filed to formally restructure back in 2017, but the lessons that can be learned still apply today. Former oversight board member David Skeel joins Jane Komsky to discuss his new book Promise Land which delves into the creditor battles, political compromises and lessons behind and beyond his experience navigating the restructuring. Skeel maps the competing claims of roughly $18bn of General Obligation bonds, $18bn of sales tax-backed Cofina bonds, clawback creditors, pension bonds and general unsecured creditors. He also recounts Aurelius’ role and attempt to mastermind the restructuring. The discussion explains how Promesa created the oversight board and Title III restructuring framework, and why Skeel believes an out-of-court resolution was ultimately unworkable. He recounts some of the unforeseeable obstacles including Hurricane Maria, political upheaval and the pandemic repeatedly disrupted negotiations, as well as divisions within the board complicating its dealings with creditors. For distressed and municipal bond investors, Skeel’s conclusions extend beyond Puerto Rico. To get the full story, Skeel’s book is available for purchase here. Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!

Shall I compare thee to an English restructuring?

New Fortress Energy, Fossil Group and Argo Blockchain are putting English restructuring plans on the map for US-listed borrowers. What draws them across the Atlantic, and what does that choice mean for creditors? Will Macadam joins Linklaters restructuring partners Michael Torkin and James Warboys to break down how the US’s more comprehensive Chapter 11 bankruptcy process compares to the England’s more targeted Part 26A restructuring plan. The discussion touches upon what companies can do with a Chapter 11 filing that cannot be achieved with an English Part 26A and vice versa, why Part 26A plans have proven popular with some publicly-listed US companies, and how advisors decide where a distressed company should restructure its liabilities. Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!

Subprime Time — What does music royalty ABS look like today?

On the pilot episode of Subprime Time — a podcast dedicated to unpacking all things asset-backed finance (ABF) — deputy editor Sasha Padbidri and ABF reporter Harrison Connery dive into the revival of music royalty asset-backed securities. They trace the market’s evolution from “Bowie bonds” to the current impact of generative AI on the asset class. Case in point: if a heartbroken teen can prompt AI to create a custom breakup song that sounds identical to Taylor Swift, what does that mean for the value of legacy catalogs? Harrison also shares his reporting on which music catalogs investment firms are currently snapping up, plus the surprising origin story behind Kygo’s hit remix of Whitney Houston’s “Higher Love”. Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!

One does not simply raise €15bn in Europe

While many European direct lenders are struggling to hit their fundraising targets, Hayfin has just pulled in more than €15bn. On Cloud 9fin, Synne Johnsson speaks with Hayfin’s head of direct lending Mark Bickerstaffe about fundraising, deployment and the changing balance of power in European private credit. He explains how investor diversification away from the US has helped Hayfin attract capital. The conversation also examines portfolio resilience, inflation risks and artificial intelligence. Looking ahead, it touches on refinancing challenges around 2028 and 2029 maturities, opportunities in capital solutions and asset-backed lending, and reasons for cautious optimism about deal activity later in 2026. Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!

Syndication Nation — Will protein-maxxing keep Chobani king?

Over the last decade, household name and beloved yogurt brand Chobani has evolved from a capacity-constrained yogurt producer into a credit market darling. But tighter debt pricing is now prompting some of its longtime lenders to walk way even as they praise the business for its success. In this episode of Cloud 9fin’s Syndication Nation, US LevFin reporter David Westenhaver unpacks the interesting backstory behind Chobani with deputy LevFin editor Sasha Padbidri, including its history in the credit market and the impact of the protein-maxxing trend on the business. Since recording this podcast, the company has issued an additional $600m in debt to finance the purchase of a Pennsylvania production facility with an expected $1.2bn price tag. Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!

Nube 9fin — Privatizations and concessions across Argentina

Javier Milei’s privatization push is reopening Argentina’s infrastructure to private capital. But turning investor interest into long-term financing hinges on credible contracts, predictable tariffs and stable foreign-exchange rules. In this first episode of a two-part series, 9fin senior credit analyst Marina Varady joins Jimena Vega Olmos, a partner at Beccar Varela, Gonzalo Santamaría, a partner at Marval, and Gustavo Kopyto, a board member at TGN, to assess opportunities across privatizations, concessions and new projects. Oil, gas and mining are top of mind for investors, with export revenues and RIGI protections helping mitigate Argentine risk. The discussion also covers AySA, road concessions and planned high-voltage transmission tenders. Kopyto draws on TGN’s experience with frozen peso tariffs and dollar-linked debt to explain why respecting contracts matters. Vega Olmos outlines the return of project finance, where repayment depends on project cash flows, long-term offtake agreements and robust security packages rather than primarily on a sponsor’s balance sheet. Santamaría, in turn, highlights opportunities in export-oriented oil, gas and mining projects, while emphasizing the need for regular tariff adjustments and predictable regulation to sustain public utilities. The Vaca Muerta Sur pipeline provides a financing precedent, combining sponsor equity with a bank consortium loan involving JP Morgan, Citi and Santander. The guests discuss how capital markets, sponsor support and multilateral guarantees could fund larger developments, drawing lessons from RenovAr and Genneia. They also examine why regulated utilities require stronger protections against tariff intervention, and why local participation in Transener need not signal foreign investor retreat: domestic investors can demonstrate confidence before international capital follows. Thanks for listening and watching. If you have any feedback on this episode send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Look out for the second episode, which delves deeper into RIGI, among other things, in the near future!

William Cohan reveals how Apollo and Leon Black ushered in the private credit boom amid fortune and scandal

Listen in on a riveting conversation with veteran financial journalist and bestselling author William D. Cohan to discuss his new book, Money to Burn: The Unvarnished Truth About Leon Black, Apollo, and the Rise of a New Wall Street. 9fin’s Max Frumes tries to understand just how Cohan gets some of the most influential figures in the history of finance and business to open up to him across his eight books. In this latest book, Cohan takes us inside the world of Leon Black and the creation of Apollo Global Management, which today is one of most dominant and pioneering multi-strategy asset managers. Cohan has captured Black’s relationships with the other billionaires who ushered Apollo into its era of prominence, Marc Rowan and Josh Harris, as well as the early influence of figures including Michael Milken, and the personal tragedies that shaped some of Wall Street’s most powerful financiers. The conversation also touches on Cohan’s reporting on Black’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein — including the $158m Black paid Epstein for financial advice — and how one of the world’s toughest dealmakers came to enter such an unusual financial arrangement.

LME Doomscrolling — Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should

In this episode of LME Doomscrolling, 9fin’s senior LME lawyer Laurie Tomassian welcomes Bill Derrough, Managing Director and Chairman of the Capital Structure Solutions group at Jefferies. Bill has over three decades of restructuring experience, with a roster of over 600 restructurings completed. What sets his deals apart is a track record of high creditor participation. Over his career, his deals have garnered on average 94% of creditors’ support. He brings a new lens to the LME debate, offering a way to use sticks and carrots to get a consensual outcome, not to fuel continued creditor-on-creditor violence. In this episode he walks us through how he avoids the LME pitfalls of what he calls “bad investment banking” that lead to short-term liquidity solutions while creating diminished long-term recoveries. Bill and Laurie speak about how the prevalence of repeat restructurings has impacted creditor behavior and walk through some success stories that have created what Bill likes to call “durable” solutions. Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!

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Syndication Nation — Will rescheduling light up the cannabis debt markets?

Hemp, hemp, hooray! The cannabis industry rejoiced earlier this year when the Department of Justice officially reclassified state-licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III — placing it in the same category as testosterone, rather than heroin. But the real game-changer for the industry would be expanding Schedule III status to adult-use recreational cannabis, which the DOJ reviewed during formal administrative hearings in July. A broader reclassification would potentially pave the way for more tax relief, as well as additional collateral and financing options for stressed cannabis borrowers. LevFin editor Bill Weisbrod grinds down the situation with deputy LevFin editor Sasha Padbidri in this episode of Cloud 9fin’s Syndication Nation. Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!

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Distressed Diaries — Are football clubs paying too much for their boots?

The World Cup summer is now a fading memory, but with the Premier League back, Cloud 9fin’s Distressed Diaries keeps football in focus while shining a light on the sector’s financial difficulties. Football clubs were traditionally bankrolled by wealthy men. Successful businessmen channelled their buccaneering instincts into their favourite sport, splurging wealth they made elsewhere. The latest in this long line, Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder, is set to buy a stake in Liverpool as part of a consortium led by British-Indian millionaire businessman Amit Bhatia. But rising costs, including eye-watering player salaries and transfer fees, has meant that one man’s opulence, however fabulous, is not enough to save a struggling business. Not least in an industry as money-guzzling as professional football. As a result, clubs resorted to borrowed money and a great many have struggled to pay that money back. In this episode of Distressed Diaries, host and senior reporter Bianca Boorer and distressed debt reporter Aditya Anand Kumar speak with Owen Ormond, restructuring partner at Ward Hadaway about the rise of distress in football clubs in Europe, the extent to which regulation can control club owners’ profligacy and the role of alternative types of credit.

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Jane’s LME Addiction — BofA drops in on a double Black Diamond navigating uncharted DQ litigation slopes

A New York state judge is preparing to hear a trial between Black Diamond Capital Management and Bank of America, the result of which could provide a better understanding of how lender DQ lists are enforced. In this episode of Cloud 9fin, Jane Komsky unpacks the case and the potential impacts on the broader market with Polsinelli restructuring chair David Karp and 9fin reporter Tom Quinn. The discussion examines the three questions now facing the court: whether Bank of America should have settled a trade with an affiliate to a disqualified lender, whether it satisfied a requirement to provide an economic equivalent when the trade failed, and whether it acted as soon as practicable to find a solution. Karp argues that any ruling is likely to focus on Bank of America’s post-trade conduct rather than overturn the core loan-market principle that a trade is a trade. The case also highlights the value of lender-of-record status, opaque DQ lists, voting rights and the risk to desks that leave trades unsettled. You can read our original story on the litigation here. Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!

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Eat, sleep, drive — Breaking down the Del Monte, Serta & American Tire trifecta

Judge 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!

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JP Morgan’s $1.5tn SRI targets Europe’s security supply chain

Daniel 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!

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Can Indian private credit growth hit 30%?

India’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!

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Claude Code shook credit. What breaks next?

A 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!

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El Niño is Spanish for … The Niño

El 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 2026/27 Colombia braces for perfect storm as El Niño looms over gas crisis FEMSA, KOF and Alsea may benefit from El Niño effect El Niño could lift Chile utilities, but less than last time Brazil climate whiplash could put key credits to the test Houston, we have a solution — How space data centers could be debt's next frontier Hurricane Helene hits southeastern US borrowers Hurricane Beryl shakes up Texas borrowers $98bn in AI projects disrupted by mounting environmental and labor risks Resistance is fertile — Iran war’s impact on agriculture and CPI Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!

Stepping into the ‘Archieverse’

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!

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The In-court Report — What Bitcoin Depot’s bankruptcy means for creditors (and scam syndicates)

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

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Syndication Nation — The tie-up between insurance and America’s AI buildout

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!

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