KBRA Releases Research – Private Credit: Pulling Rank and the Game of Senior Preferreds in LMEs

NEW YORK--()--KBRA releases research observing how secured lenders have long looked to “Disqualified Stock” provisions in credit documentation to protect them against cash leakage on account of junior ranking instruments. However, lessons from a recent private credit liability management exercise (LME) raised questions regarding the perceived benign nature of permitted junior ranking hybrid instruments.

Key Takeaways

  • A recent LME transaction widely discussed in media reports did not exhibit qualities of lender-on-lender gamesmanship, although the transaction does provide a new template for value-shifting transactions.
  • A review of a random sampling of credit documents highlights another avenue where stressed borrowers can leverage document terms to shift some value away from credit parties, a matter that is becoming a bigger discussion point in private credit deal negotiations.
  • Preferred equity—commonly viewed as nonthreatening to senior lenders—can pull rank if the document allows it, and it appears most could.

Click here to view the report.

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About KBRA

KBRA is a full-service credit rating agency registered in the U.S., the EU, and the UK, and is designated to provide structured finance ratings in Canada. KBRA’s ratings can be used by investors for regulatory capital purposes in multiple jurisdictions.

Doc ID: 1006158

Contacts

Judah Gross, Senior Director
+1 646-731-1361
judah.gross@kbra.com

John Sage, Senior Director
+1 646-731-1452
john.sage@kbra.com

John Hogan, Senior Managing Director, Global Head of Ratings Legal
+353 1 588 1191
john.hogan@kbra.com

Andrew Giudici, Global Head of Corporate, Project, and Infrastructure Finance
+1 646-731-2372
andrew.giudici@kbra.com

Media Contact

Adam Tempkin, Director of Communications
+1 646-731-1347
adam.tempkin@kbra.com

Business Development Contact

Jason Lilien, Senior Managing Director
+1 646-731-2442
jason.lilien@kbra.com

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Contacts

Judah Gross, Senior Director
+1 646-731-1361
judah.gross@kbra.com

John Sage, Senior Director
+1 646-731-1452
john.sage@kbra.com

John Hogan, Senior Managing Director, Global Head of Ratings Legal
+353 1 588 1191
john.hogan@kbra.com

Andrew Giudici, Global Head of Corporate, Project, and Infrastructure Finance
+1 646-731-2372
andrew.giudici@kbra.com

Media Contact

Adam Tempkin, Director of Communications
+1 646-731-1347
adam.tempkin@kbra.com

Business Development Contact

Jason Lilien, Senior Managing Director
+1 646-731-2442
jason.lilien@kbra.com