Brightline: running out of track

In this episode of Debtwired!, Paul Greaves speaks with Stephen J. Lubben, professor at Seton Hall University School of Law and author of To Protect Their Interests: The Invention and Exploitation of Corporate Bankruptcy, about the increasingly complex restructuring situation facing Brightline Florida and what it could mean for creditors, investors, and the future of privately financed passenger rail.

In this episode of Debtwired!, Debtwire Municipals Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with David Skeel, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, former chair of the Financial Oversight and Management Board of Puerto Rico, and author of Promise Land, on Puerto Rico's progress ten years after the fiscal crisis and the questions that will shape the island's next decade.

In this episode of Debtwired!, managing editor Madalina Iacob sits down with Michael B. Chaisanguanthum, Managing Director at UBS Asset Management and Head of Restructuring for the Credit Investments Group, and Gregory Cass, Principal at PGIM, to discuss the rapidly shifting landscape for credit investors. The conversation examines how aggressive sponsor tactics and the rise of liability management exercises have changed the creditor playbook, pushing lenders toward earlier engagement, tighter coordination and more creative restructuring solutions. Greg and Michael discuss the limits of LMEs, which can extend runway and preserve optionality but often delay, rather than solve, overleveraged capital structures. They also explore the growing use of cooperation agreements and pro rata frameworks to curb creditor-on-creditor violence and counter deal-away tactics. The episode highlights how lenders are increasingly acting collectively to protect recoveries and influence outcomes. Finally, the discussion turns to innovation in restructuring, from hybrid debt-equity instruments to highly negotiated DIP financings that can effectively pre-wire bankruptcy outcomes. With maturity walls looming in sectors such as software and pressure persisting in cyclical industries, lenders are preparing for a broader wave of stress that may require more proactive involvement, including stepping into ownership and driving operational change.

In this episode of Debtwired!, Madalina Iacob speaks with Zul Jamal and Barak Klein, co-heads of U.S. Capital Structure Advisory at Moelis, about how restructuring has evolved over their 25-plus years in investment banking.They discuss the shift from lighter, less-secured capital structures to today’s heavily secured debt stacks, alongside the rising cost of Chapter 11, and how those developments have reshaped restructuring strategies and have made liability management exercises increasingly important. They underscore the importance of engaging early, often two to three years before a maturity wall or liquidity event, to preserve flexibility and improve outcomes. The conversation also covers the changing creditor base and current disruption in the software sector.Jamal and Klein share lessons from notable deals, including Carvana, while highlighting the role of culture, trust and flexibility in successful restructurings. They also address common mistakes, negotiation strategy, and advice for junior bankers entering the field.

Elias Lambrianos, Managing Editor of Debtwire EMEA, sits down with Dr Tobias Moser, a German restructuring lawyer and partner at DMR Legal, to discuss the increasing popularity of Nordic bonds by German issuers, and the emergence of ‘Shareholding as a Service’ (ShaaS) as a corporate restructuring model on the German market.

In this episode, Olivia Guthorn, Managing Director in Oaktree's Opportunities Group, describes a credit market at all-time tights that appears to be looking through potentially significant macro risks, while meaningful dispersion builds underneath, particularly in healthcare IT and software. Olivia outlines Oaktree's cautious, highly selective approach to sectors exposed to AI disruption, focusing on businesses with durable characteristics such as proprietary data, strong customer integration, high switching costs, regulatory moats, and sufficient capital to invest in new technology. For healthcare, she draws a sharp distinction between provider IT and payer IT, with the former expected to be more insulated from AI risk and the latter being more exposed given the resources and incentive large national payers have to insource.Olivia discusses how policy changes including the One Big Beautiful Bill's impact on Medicaid reimbursement, potential ACA subsidy expiration, and a growing focus on fraud, waste, and abuse are driving dispersion across subsectors, with med devices and pharma looking relatively more attractive and Medicaid-exposed services remaining challenged. She also touches upon the growing focus on private credit and how the historical notion that private credit doesn't trade is being tested, with trading activity so far remaining limited and orderly but potentially accelerating if redemption pressures increase. She highlights that the next two to three years should represent a significant opportunity for sector-specialist, bottom-up investors in opportunistic credit like Oaktree.

Debtwire reporter Kunyi Yang speaks with Hilco Global's Ian Fredericks on distressed trends amid 2026's macro turbulence - tariffs, oil prices, the Iran conflict, and what it all means for retail and consumer markets.

In a discussion with Sunny Singh and Gary Holtzer of Weil, host Andy Serbe raises the question of why companies might seek to avoid Chapter 11 based on current trends and systemic changes, how restructuring companies can avoid becoming debtors, and what can go wrong.

Danielle Saba, senior reporter of Debtwire North America sat down with Jay Weinberger, managing director in Houlihan Lokey’s Financial Restructuring Group, for this week's podcast, Debtwired!Jay is industry agnostic, but has done a great deal of work for gaming companies and their lenders. He admits there has not been much in the way of restructuring among casinos over the past five years, and he talks about the creative possibilities that could have taken shape if the large casinos had access to today’s technology to execute a creative drop down or deal away. He also delves into regional players, with some trying to selling assets or taking permanent residence and the pitfalls of not having owned properties. Jay shines a spotlight on a UK-based company with old asset and a shiny growing asset and how that could get transactional ideas flowing among lenders in the near term.Tune in to hear about what's ahead for global gaming companies in the near future.

Kirkland & Ellis Partner Christian Halasz sits down with Debtwire Europe's Senior Legal Analyst Dawn Grocock to discuss the evolution of Germany's StaRUG process, recognition hurdles, forum shopping to the UK and some issues arising in current German situations. (Recorded Feb. 27, 2026)