We were in the 4th grade when a food fight erupted in the cafeteria at the table next to us. The lunch monitor came over, looked at the offenders, then turned to us.
“This behavior is unacceptable,” she said. “Report to detention in my class after school.”
“What? But Mrs. Diaz,” we protested, “they were the ones throwing food!”
“That may be,” she answered, “but why would I want those hooligans in my classroom?”
A similarly absurd narrative is being spun around the First Brands and TriColor bankruptcies: Two private businesses, one in auto parts, the other sub-prime auto loans. No private equity sponsors. Financings for one in the bank market, the other in the ABS market. No direct lenders. Allegations of fraud and double-pledging of assets...
“I think what First Brands shows is you can't hide for long.” – John Christmas, co-head of business development and investor relations, HPS Investment Partners (FundFire).
Featuring Charts
Chart of the Week: Auto Correct
The value of First Brand loans was close to par – until it wasn’t. Source: Bloomberg, S&P Capital IQ, iCapital Investment Strategy
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Chart of the Week: MENA Wealth
Of the top ten largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, four are Middle Eastern. Source: Bloomberg
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Chart of the Week: Up and To the Right
Oman’s economy is expected to increase steadily through the end of the decade Source: Statista
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Chart of the Week: Slow as it Goes
Quarterly direct lending deals peaked 2Q 2024, slowed since. Source: PitchBook LCD, US data through Sept. 16, 2025.
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Chart of the Week: Where’s the Beef?
A PitchBook survey showed private credit participants most worried about finding new deals. Source: PitchBook/LCD, data through Sept. 16, 2025
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Chart of the Week: Business Service as Usual
Business services and tech remain strong sectors for LBO candidates. Source: KBRA DLD
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Features
Leveraged Loan Insight & Analysis – 10/20/2025
Unitranche spreads tighten for large corporate issuers in 3Q25, while middle market spreads were flat QoQ The most recent quarter continued to be marked by robust competition among direct lenders amid lower than hoped for deal flow, with 73% of direct lenders in LPC’s recent Middle Market Outlook Survey saying they were not able to…
Middle Market & Private Credit – 10/20/2025
U.S. Private Credit: Sizing Up Defaults Click here to download report. This report examines private credit defaulters by EBITDA size, compares default rates across the two component Model-based Credit Opinion (MCO) and Privately Monitored Ratings (PMR) portfolios, and details default reasons…. Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member? Log in here...
The Pulse of Private Equity – 10/20/2025
Carveout/divestiture count as a share of all PE middle-market buyout count by quarter Download PitchBook’s Report here. Carveouts remained a consistent feature of middle-market deal activity in Q2 2025. They accounted for 11.1% of deal value during the quarter, up from 10.9% in Q1 and broadly in line with the five-year annual average of 11.4%…. Subscribe
PDI Picks – 10/20/2025
The rise of retail Private credit is still having much success raising capital from institutions, but it doesn’t stop the retail investor from taking the spotlight. On the face of it, private credit fundraising from institutions is going strong. Our latest data shows such fundraising hit a record high for the first nine months of…
Bloomberg: Leveraged Lending Insights – 10/20/2025
Leveraged Loan Launches Slow in October Click here to access Bloomberg’s US Leveraged Finance Chartbook At just $36.3b launched into the US institutional leveraged loan market this October through the 21st, it is shaping up to be the slowest month of primary market activity since May. This week has shown some improvement, with 10 deals…
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Beginning in July 2022 The Lead Left published a series of articles on credit market. This report consolidates those articles.
Cov-lite trends Inflation & rising interest rates – LIBOR to SOFR transition Mega-tranche uni trend ESG takes center stage Login to view interactive report and download PDF version. … Subscribe to Read MoreAlready a member? Log in here Related posts: 2H 2021 Midyear Outlook Report State of the Capital Markets – Fourth Quarter 2016 Review and
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