EP 15: The Evolution of European Restructuring with Andrew Wilkinson

EP 15: The Evolution of European Restructuring with Andrew Wilkinson

Julie Miecamp [https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-miecamp-b4447733/], Deputy Global Head of Editorial at Octus [https://octus.com/], opens the episode by framing why European restructuring is at an inflection point. Part 26A is being shaped in real time through hard cases, liability management is now firmly transatlantic, and the question of what restructuring is actually for has not been this contested in years. She then hands off to Chris Haffenden [https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-haffenden-mba-cmgr-fcmi-756464b/], Senior Editor at Octus, in conversation with Andrew Wilkinson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-wilkinson-97238074/], restructuring partner at Weil. Wilkinson has had a front-row seat to every major chapter of European distressed since 1985. He walks through how the scheme of arrangement, born in Bermudian insurance restructurings, became the engine for European high yield (06:04), how Eurotunnel's [https://www.leshuttle.com/uk-en] 14 tranches of debt accidentally created the European distressed trading market (11:01), and his Goldman years through the financial crisis, including the taxi ride to brief the Chancellor on Northern Rock (19:23). The conversation turns to the trio of Part 26A cases that have rewritten the playbook (29:54), and closes on why advisors have let restructuring get too complicated (41:31). The throughline: fix the company, get it back to work. Somewhere the industry lost sight of that. ----more---- Hosted by Julie Miecamp [https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-miecamp-b4447733/] Guest Interviewer: Chris Haffenden [https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-haffenden-mba-cmgr-fcmi-756464b/], Senior Editor, Octus [https://octus.com/] Guest: Andrew Wilkinson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-wilkinson-97238074/], Restructuring Partner, Weil [https://www.weil.com/] Producer Tanya Hubbard [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-hubbard/] A Production of The Octus Podcast Network [https://octus.com/resources/the-octus-podcast-network/]

EP 14: Why the UK Restructuring Plan Is Winning with Peter Newman

Julie Miecamp [https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-miecamp-b4447733/] opens with a simple observation: cross-border restructuring used to be a niche. A small group who knew which tools worked, which were theoretical, and how to close before the asset stopped being worth fighting over. It's not a niche anymore. She introduces Omar Vaishnavi's [https://www.linkedin.com/in/omar-vaishnavi-b25b2b13b/] conversation with Peter Newman [https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-newman-8407081a0/], Partner and Head of European Corporate Restructuring at Skadden [https://www.skadden.com/], a lawyer with a simple view of what restructuring actually is: a company has too much debt, your job is to fix it, everything else is noise. The conversation opens with how Part 26A has moved from contested novelty to a reliable instrument, with courts now applying two distinct fairness frameworks to value allocation (12:34). Newman explains why Chapter 11 remains the gold standard but isn't always the right vehicle, and how the UK restructuring plan's surgical approach made it the value-maximizing path for New Fortress Energy [https://www.newfortressenergy.com/] (17:22). OceanRig anchors the episode's practical core (19:09): a cross-border restructuring Newman and Vaishnavi worked from opposite sides of the table, which succeeded because the deal moved faster than the dispute could. The teaching thread runs through the second half, with Newman drawing on seven years co-teaching at NYU [https://www.nyu.edu/] to explain why the most powerful insight in restructuring is also the simplest (29:37). The episode closes with rapid-fire takes on the tools worth watching and what African Minerals taught him about the limits of a strong legal position (34:33). ----more---- Hosted by Julie Miecamp [https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-miecamp-b4447733/] Guest Interviewer: Omar Vaishnavi [https://www.linkedin.com/in/omar-vaishnavi-b25b2b13b/], Head of Americas Coverage, Octus [https://octus.com/] Guest: Peter Newman [https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-newman-8407081a0/], Partner and Head of European Corporate Restructuring, Skadden [https://www.skadden.com/] Produced and Edited by Tanya Hubbard [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-hubbard/] A Production of The Octus Podcast Network [https://octus.com/resources/the-octus-podcast-network/]

EP 13: What Really Happened to CLO Equity with Ian Gilbertson

Julie Miecamp [https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-miecamp-b4447733/]opens the episode by framing the CLO market after a difficult 2025, noting that the pressure on CLO equity was less about credit losses and defaults and more about arbitrage compression, asset repricing, and liabilities that could not adjust as quickly. She then introduces guest interviewer Hugh Minch [%20https%3A/www.linkedin.com/in/hugh-minch-9608a8b1/%20] and his conversation with Ian Gilbertson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-gilbertson-321a6a15/] of Invesco [https://www.invesco.com/us/en/Individual-investor.html] (00:02:09), which begins with the macro risks shaping leveraged credit today, including AI disruption, software-sector stress, geopolitical volatility, consumer pressure, and the question of whether the market still has the same shock absorbers it had during the 2022–2023 rate-hiking cycle (00:02:24). Hugh and Ian then move into CLO issuance, pricing, resets, and refinancing activity (00:07:44), before discussing manager tiering and the shift toward larger, more diversified books (00:12:07). Ian explains why CLO equity had a difficult 2025 (00:16:17), emphasizing arbitrage compression over crystallized credit losses, then unpacks the captive equity debate (00:20:10), the growth of CLO ETFs and what they mean for liquidity and market structure (00:23:49), and the misconceptions that still come up in investor education. The episode closes with Ian’s outlook for the rest of 2026 (00:30:43), what institutional investors should ask CLO managers (00:31:33), and a rapid-fire round on credit discipline, ratings, career advice, and making decisions with imperfect information (00:32:27) ----more---- Hosted by Julie Miecamp [https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-miecamp-b4447733/] Guest Interviewer: Hugh Minch [https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugh-minch-9608a8b1/] (Managing Editor of Structured Finance Insights, Octus) Guest: Ian Gilbertson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-gilbertson-321a6a15/] (Co-Head of US CLOs and Portfolio Manager, Invesco) Producer:  Tanya Hubbard [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-hubbard/] A Production of The Octus Podcast Network

EP 12: Why the Private Credit Panic is Overblown with Tyler Gately

Associate Editor Armie Lee [https://www.linkedin.com/in/armie-margaret-lee-a5509b6/] sits down with Tyler Gately, [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-gately-661256139/]Head of North America Private Credit at Barings [https://www.linkedin.com/company/barings/], for a candid read on the state of direct lending in 2026. Recorded as Q1 was wrapping up, the conversation cuts through the noise. Tyler opens with a reality check on the private credit headlines (00:00:36), then walks through what is actually driving volume, why add-on activity is accounting for 60 to 70 percent of dollars going out the door (00:01:13), and the fastest market repricing since COVID, with spreads gapping out 50 to 100 basis points as the retail BDC dollar pulls back (00:03:02). He covers the Q2 pipeline and the long-predicted M&A bounce-back question (00:04:45), and explains what this dislocation means for institutional platforms that deploy their own capital (00:08:18). The second half digs into AI and software risk in private credit, why Tyler thinks the macro fear is overblown (00:10:13), and the new questions Barings is asking software borrowers today (00:12:55). He breaks down the Barings platform and how it has reconstructed the banking landscape for sponsors (00:16:27), the tale of two markets between retail and institutional LPs (00:18:01), and what actually separates a platform worth committing to from one that just looks good on paper (00:21:12). The conversation closes with Tyler's 2026 outlook (00:24:49), what starting his career in the 2008 financial crisis taught him about discipline (00:28:08), and a rapid fire round on mindset shifts, market trends, and what young credit professionals still get wrong (00:32:48). ----more---- Hosted by Armie Lee [https://www.linkedin.com/in/armie-margaret-lee-a5509b6/] Guest: Tyler Gately [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-gately-661256139/] (Head of North America Private Credit, Barings) Produced and Edited by Tanya Hubbard [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-hubbard/] A Production of The Octus Podcast Network

EP 11: When Creditor Coordination Becomes a Cartel with Doug Mintz & Brian Wallach

Julie Miecamp, Deputy Global Head of Editorial at Octus, opens the episode (00:00) by framing the growing legal scrutiny around creditor cooperation agreements and why two recent antitrust lawsuits have put common restructuring tools under a brighter spotlight. As liability management transactions become more aggressive and creditor groups organize earlier in the process, Julie explains why the line between coordination and collusion now matters more than ever. She then introduces Kevin Eckhardt [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-eckhardt-26a955138/], Senior Director of Legal Analysis at Octus, who leads a detailed conversation with Doug Mintz [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-eckhardt-26a955138/], Co-Chair of the Financial Restructuring Group at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, and Brian Wallach [https://www.linkedin.com/in/wallachbrian/], Co-Chair of the firm’s Antitrust Practice. The discussion begins with a practical breakdown of what creditor cooperation agreements are and how they evolved post-2020 (03:40), before turning to the Optimum lawsuit and the borrower’s claim that a creditor group functioned as a “market-blocking cartel” (07:10). From there, the conversation explores the legal theories at play, including per se versus rule-of-reason antitrust analysis (10:05), the challenges of defining the relevant market (14:20), and what discovery could mean if these cases survive early motions to dismiss (18:45). The episode then shifts to the Selecta litigation (26:10), examining creditor-on-creditor conflict and how courts may distinguish between competitive harm and ordinary restructuring behavior. The group closes by considering how these cases could reshape documentation, coordination strategy, and lender risk management going forward (34:30), offering a grounded look at how legal pressure may influence the next phase of private credit.