First Brands seeks expedited sale of Walbro business for USD 50m to Overdrive Capital
USD 50m cash purchase price plus assumed liabilities, Polaris Industries as guarantor; expedited approval needed due to funding constraints and potential job losses

Air Baltic and INEOS Quattro bonds fall, AD Education loan continues to slide – Market Comment
Latvian flagship airline Air Baltic’s EUR 380m 14.5% senior secured 2029 notes are 5 points down from Friday, while UK-based chemicals group INEOS Quattro’s EUR 775m 8.5% senior secured 2029 notes are 4.5 points down at 77.9-mid in the wake of rising costs stemming from the US/Iran conflict

Raistone enters Chapter 7 following First Brands filing; judge in Highland Chapter 11 case recuses herself after allegations about her novels
Judge Stacey Jernigan of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas recused herself from multiple matters in Highland Capital Management's Chapter 11 case after parties argued that novels she authored portrayed a hedge fund executive involved in the case

A historical SFVegas confab marked by snow, fire and AI
Software leveraged loans sold off during the annual industry meeting in Las Vegas

A fiery start to the year
Welcome to the first issue of the Creditflux magazine for 2026. Our cover pays homage to the Lunar New Year, which begins on February 17 and is symbolised by the horse

Software loans face further declines as AI fears persist
The rapid deployment of artificial intelligence is wreaking havoc with software companies that not long ago were darlings of the US leveraged loans market

CLO market dulled by software spillover
The new year kicked off with one of the most bullish sentiments ever for the CLO market. Already, barely into February, the mood has been tempered

‘This is a perfect storm for the loan market’
Investing Corner with Michael Sobol, global head of investing at Blackstone

New filings detail Patrick Drahi's diversion of assets to detriment of certain Altice creditors – report
EUR 4.5bn loan affected, 55% of Altice International's assets; creditors explore litigation, including covenant breach and conveyance claims

US lev loans, CLO spreads move in opposite directions as market worries deepen over software loans
ANALYSIS: The unusual dynamic has been driven by worries about disruption from artificial intelligence, as investors fret about the potentially wide-ranging impacts across a range of sectors

European BSL market upped risk to win deals in 2025 – White & Case
The BSL market issued a higher percentage of loans rated below BB against a backdrop of patchy M&A flow

Largest loan repricing wave sweeps through the market while AI fears drive software sector sell-off
Nord Anglia and INNIO break through 300bps barrier for single-Bs; Team.blue and Dedalus pull deals amid software/tech sell-off

First Brands CEO Patrick James indicted on charges of defrauding lenders
James is accused of multiple fraudulent schemes, with brother Edward James also indicted; they are facing charges on bank and wire fraud

AI to boost credit markets in 'bullish' 2026 – Janus Henderson head of multi-sector credit John Lloyd
A productivity boost powered by AI is just one of the reasons for investors to be upbeat about fixed income and credit generally, says John Lloyd, global head of multi-sector credit at Janus Henderson, on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee

Key theme for 2026 will be growth in the loan market – Eagle Point founder Tom Majewski

Growth in the loan market will be an important market driver this year, the founder of Eagle Point Credit Management says on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee; also shares Eagle Point ressearch that shows LMEs at 2% per year on top of default rates

Muzinich and SMBC partner on European loan originations
The partnership will focus on double B and single B-rated new issues in the European public broadly syndicated loan market

Lev loan guidance shift will challenge private credit CLOs, bring more new loan supply – Shenkman
EXCLUSIVE: Regulators rolling back restrictive guidance around leveraged lending could help traditional bank lenders claw back market share from US direct lenders

ATLAS SP loan trader moves to Scotiabank
New York-based Andres Rodlauer has taken up a new role as head of US Whole Loan Trading at the Canadian bank

BoE highlights weaknesses in CLO market following First Brands, Tricolor
The central bank will soon begin its stress test of private markets, amid concerns around weaknesses in higher-risk credit solutions

New loan shop Mountain Point eyes move into the CLO market
EXCLUSIVE: The manager, which launched last week with a focus on broadly syndicated loans in partnership with Eagle Point, is considering opportunities in the CLO market.

European CLOs back on track for record year, but caution remains – Global ABS panellists
Panellists at this year’s Global ABS conference in Barcelona say European CLO issuance has recovered from its April hiatus – but concerns remain, especially over lack of leveraged loan supply and deteriorating credit quality

Hayfin hires Man's former CLO PM for European high yield, loans research
Jason Late will serve as a co-portfolio manager for the European high yield and syndicated loan strategy

Tariffs will push up default rates for several years, say agencies and managers
After an uptick in leveraged loan defaults culled weaker credits in 2024, many expected default rates to fall in 2025. But the uncertainty stemming from the Trump administration’s tariffs means those assumptions are now under threat

A&O Shearman exits continue with two partners jumping to Proskauer
Leveraged finance partners Alexandra de Padua and Frank Oliver join Proskauer’s global finance practice in New York

US CLO and leveraged loan market roiled by dramatic Trump tariffs
ANALYSIS: Leveraged loans and CLO fell lower in the aftermath's of President Donald Trump's new tariffs