In this episode of The Upgrade podcast we discuss the recent large LBO of healthcare sector company Medline. Topics include our views on the company’s business, financial and debt recovery prospects, as well as how Medline compares to existing CLO collateral. Guests include analysts from S&P’s corporate healthcare, recovery, and CLO teams.

In this episode of The Upgrade podcast we discuss recent research showing how quickly PE backed M&A returned, the higher leverage in PE deals, and which sectors have been most active with M&A. We also look what the proliferation of B- rated issuers, largely due to PE ownership, means for CLO portfolios.

In this episode of The Upgrade podcast we discuss what’s new with rising stars and fallen angels based on recent research, along with a detailed discussion of a recent rising star – Advanced Micro Devices.

In today’s episode, Hina and Sandeep are joined by Gaetan Michel to discuss Winterfell Financing, the Norther European building materials distributor. Here we discuss the key findings of the company’s recent performance and focus in on the ESG components against its €1.345 Bn TLB issue, which is popularly held in Euro CLOs and makes part of LCD’s ESG Leveraged Finance Tracker.

In today’s episode, Hina and Sandeep are joined by Patrick Janssen from the Corporate Ratings team to discuss Tipico (also know as Tackle S.a.r.l), the German sports betting operator. Listen in as we discuss key findings of the company’s recent performance, it’s current outlook status and the drivers behind its current recovery rating.

In this episode of The Upgrade podcast we discuss interesting research about the pace of speculative grade upgrades, default rates, and how often out-of-court restructurings are effective in avoiding an additional default or buying time to improve operations.

In this episode of The Upgrade podcast we discuss some interesting research about leverage, cash trends, recovery ratings and how we mine data from financial statements across our rated universe.

In today’s episode, Hina and Sandeep are joined by Fabio Manfredonia and Patrick Flynn from the Corporate Ratings team to discuss the U.K. based childcare services provides Busy Bees (also known as Eagle Midco). Listen in as we discuss key findings of the company’s recent refinancing, it’s current outlook status and the drivers behind its current recovery rating.

In this episode of The Upgrade podcast we discuss big picture topics: leverage and rating action trends, views from market participants, default forecasts, CLO performance, and new issue volumes this year.

In today’s episode, Hina and Sandeep are joined by Marta Stojanova, Director in Corporate Ratings, to discuss her recent publication European Leveraged Finance Recovery in the fourth quarter of 2020 titled “Leverage Increases, Recovery Slips”. Listen in as we discuss how trends in new issue and outstanding average recovery rates, how they vary across industries and why leverage is increasing.