It seems like everyone has a different definition of middle market direct lending and what challenges so-called ‘middle market’ borrowers and lenders are facing.

Join PGIM’s head of middle market direct lending, Matt Harvey, and 9fin senior private credit reporter Shubham Saharan as they explore trends in the middle market and what direct lenders and LPs should be on the lookout for as they head into 2026.

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It’s not every day that we get to talk about something that’s quite literally out of this world.

We’re referring to space-based data centers, which billionaire tech titans and startups alike are racing to build out as AI fever grips Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Proponents argue that space data centers offer substantial benefits versus their terrestrial counterparts, including freedom from natural disaster risks, access to unlimited free solar power and elimination of complex cooling requirements.

Global head of Distressed & LevFin Max Frumes sat down with LevFin deputy editor Sasha Padbidri to unpack what this means for existing data center infrastructure and the billions of dollars of debt financing already raised by giants like Meta, CoreWeave and Amazon to fund those buildouts.

Have any feedback about this episode? Send us a note at [email protected]. You can also check out our feature on space data centers here.

In this episode of Cloud 9fin, distressed debt reporter Ayden Crosby and editor Rachel Butt sit down with Jamie Sprayregen, vice chairman of global strategy and growth at Hilco Global, for a grand tour through 2025’s hottest topics in distressed credit and the restructuring world.

We asked Jamie about his views on a number of 9fin’s favorite themes, including how AI is disrupting the market, the rise of ABS deals from stressed issuers, tussles between sponsors and creditors, the impact of tariffs, and his takeaways from the rapid downfall of First Brands.

Private equity-owned education companies like Houghton Mifflin and Lakeshore Learning are learning a hard lesson in the US leveraged finance market this year as their loans and bonds have tumbled to trade at discounts.

In this episode of Cloud 9fin, senior reporter Sunny Oh sat down with US managing editor Bill Weisbrod and discussed his story about how investors have taken a close look at this group of borrowers and asked what the future holds for them in a world where school districts have had to tighten belts and cut spending.

Most notably, we talked about how the expiration of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Program (ESSER) has hurt education borrowers who have struggled to fill in the hole left by the $190bn policy. Meanwhile, falling school enrollment and the global trade war has compounded issues in the sector.

In this episode of Jane’s LME Addiction, our head of LME coverage Jane Komsky brings in Davis Polk partners Brian Resnick and Hilary Dengel to discuss voting cap and lender concentration cap language in credit agreements and how they may affect creditor organization and liability management exercises. They discuss the goals of these provisions, whether these provisions are “anti-co-op”, and whether they are more effective than DQ lists for sponsors trying to decide who buys into their debt.

Find all our coverage on concentration caps, voting caps, and DQ lists at 9fin.com.

Have any feedback on the podcast? Send us a note at [email protected] — thanks for listening!

High-profile US bankruptcies, First Brands and Tricolor have sent warning signals to regulators about the dangers of opaque financings, shining a light on private credit.

Are these cases one offs, given allegations of fraud, or will there be more cockroaches to follow?

In this episode of Distressed Diaries, 9fin’s senior distressed reporter Bianca Boorer sat down with senior distressed reporter Alessia Argentieri and private credit reporter Gregory Rosenvinge to talk about risks lurking in private credit.

We address some defaults, recent takeovers by private credit funds and lessons learned from the First Brands case.

We also touch on some new tools the private credit market is employing to increase its liquidity further.

As private credit continues to grow, it is constantly looking for new ways to deploy the mountain of capital it has raised. Now that the market is of scale, it has begun to look at investment grade credit as another avenue on which to make deals.

In this episode of Cloud 9fin, senior private credit reporter Peter Benson sits down with Ryan Schwartz, managing director in Brookfield Asset Management’s credit group to discuss the burgeoning asset class. They discuss what IG private credit is, how deals can be structured, and why IG private credit makes sense for investors.

Have any feedback for us on the podcast? Send a note to [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In this episode of Tranche Talk, Cloud 9fin’s CLO series, our global head of CLOs Tanvi Gupta, talks with Edwin Wilches, Co-head of Securitized Products at PGIM.

They talk about how securitization is the key component in Europe’s growth agenda, how more work needs to be done for Solvency II, the evolution of insurance demand, relative value and the impact on liquidity from recent regulations. They also delve into the unintended consequences of putting out a clarification in the middle of summer and the art of staying zen.

Have any feedback for us on the podcast? Send a note to [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In this episode of Tranche Talk, Cloud 9fin’s CLO series, our global head of CLOs, Tanvi Gupta, talks with Saffet Ozbalci, global head of structured credit at BlackRock.

They talk about the nuances of investing in CLOs with a backdrop of dramatic bankruptcies, relative value in CLO tranches in a new rate regime, what’s next in structural innovation in the capital stack, the need for standardization of docs and, most importantly, the (unlikely) outcome of the UEFA Champions League.

Have any feedback for us on the podcast? Send a note to [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In this episode of Jane’s LME Addiction, 9fin’s head of LME coverage Jane Komsky sits down with 9fin private credit reporters Shubham Saharan and Tom Quinn, to discuss how sponsors are adding the ability to veto their portfolio companies’ creditors’ choice of law firm. They discuss the how these provisions came about, what iterations have passed into the market, and whether these provisions are ethical.

Find all of our coverage on LME litigation on 9fin.

Have any feedback on the podcast? Send us a note at [email protected] — thanks for listening!