Smaller issuers default at more than twice the rate of their mid-sized peers – Fitch
Issuers with EBITDA below USD 25m saw a 9.3% default rate in the 12 months to the end of 2Q25

First Brands factoring agreements a USD 2bn variable at play in potential Chapter 11 filing – legal analysis
Factoring agreement terms determine ownership of accounts receivables in bankruptcy; fraudulent transfer claims, termination fees possible issues

First Brands plans free fall bankruptcy with DIP, as Deloitte goes pencils down
Chapter 11 is expected as soon as Sunday; ad-hoc cross-holder lender group offers around USD 1.1bn DIP financing

Rush to exit bankruptcy pushes more companies to file a second time
Four companies file for second time in 2025, up from one last year; Poor prognosis for Chapter 22 filers, with high liquidation rates  

Corporate default rates predicted to fall despite tariff uncertainty - S&P
Speculative-grade corporate default rates expected to fall on both sides of the Atlantic as trade tension uncertainty eases, but some concerns remain

Default expectations rise as tariff threats to North America deepen – IACPM survey
Credit portfolio managers across the world see tariff-related headwinds for both the US and Canada

Tariff pressures stir PIK fears in private credit
As the US economy flashes warning signs amid President Trump’s push for higher tariffs, any pain in the direct lending market will likely appear in the increased use of payment-in-kind interest, market participants say

Leveraged loan, HY defaults to pick up as tariff pause adds more uncertainty - Goldman
The bank expects macro challenges to continue despite the tariff pause  

Large cap deals generating higher percentage of private credit defaults, S&P says
Larger private debt deals were also more likely to include a payment-in-kind feature

Middle market private credit default climb significantly to 4.7% – Proskauer
The US direct lending market saw a big increase in middle market defaults in the fourth quarter of 2024

Fitch reports improvement in European CLO default rates during 2024
The cumulative number of defaulted issuers rated double-C or below in EMEA CLO portfolios fell to 19 in 2024 from 22 the previous year, according to Fitch

Franchise Group enters Chapter 11 with USD 750m DIP, RSA with first lien lenders
Franchise Group, a name held by 197 US BSL CLOs, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy over the weekend

Distress rises in US CLO double Bs — but most have been in trouble for years
Despite the limited impact of the Altice debacle on the European market (as explored in our cover story), stress is building in some older US CLOs. The robustness of the CLO 2.0 structure has carried the market through a variety of crises, but now a number of junior tranches in US BSL CLOs are either defaulted or impaired.

Altice isn’t just a European CLO problem
The latest BofA research estimates that US CLO OC test breaches could jump to as high as 17% if all Altice entiites are downgraded

Global corporate defaults on fastest pace since 2009 according to S&P
The number of corporate defaults has risen dramatically year-to-date, according to S&P Global Ratings, driven by a doubling of the rate of defaults in Europe

Troubled European name reaches end-game
The long-running saga of French mass-market retail group Casino Guichard-Perrachon appears to be nearly over as the firm filed for Chapter 15 recognition in the US

Electronic controls company Robertshaw is latest CLO name to default
Robertshaw, held by 134 CLOs with a total exposure of USD 151m, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Lumen Technologies ad-hoc group preps competing proposal
The refinancing of Lumen Technologies, currently held by 1311 different CLOs with a combined principal balance of USD 3.8bn, took a new twist today as details of a competing proposal emerged

US CLO credit Air Methods Corporation files for bankruptcy
Air Methods Corporation, a widely held name in the US CLO market, filed for Chapter 11 this morning reporting USD 1bn to USD 10bn in liabilities.

Envision Healthcare draws lawsuit from fourth out lenders
A group of “fourth out” lenders to Envision Healthcare have lodged an adversary complaint over its 2022 drop-down recapitalization and subsequent ‘uptier’ exchange

Fitch notches up US lev loan and HY 2023 default rate forecasts
Fitch Ratings has raised its US corporate institutional high yield bond default 2023 forecasts from 3%-3.5% to 4.5%-5%, and its leveraged loan default forecast from 2.5%-3% to 4%-4.5%

CLO market observes SVB collapse with trepidation
CLO market participants observed the fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank with trepidation on Monday as fears over contagion in other parts of the financial landscape remained heighened

US private credit default rate rose to 2.06% in Q4, Proskauer reveals
That’s up from 1.56% in Q3 and reverses the trend of declining default rates from the 8.1% peak in Q2 2020.

US private credit default rate rose to 1.56% in Q3, Proskauer index reveals
US private credit default rates rose from 1.18% to 1.56% in the third quarter, according to Proskauer’s private credit default index

Creditors look to block asset stripping in loan docs
Loan managers are using their increased negotiating leverage amid tighter credit conditions to push back on private equity sponsors’ ability to asset strip portfolio companies