10
Dec
Panel: The growing role of private credit in a restructuring context
The private credit market continues to grow, reaching $2.1 trillion AUM globally, with the bulk of the activity coming from the US, where its market share is nearing that of syndicated loans and high-yield bonds. Non-bank direct lending continues to play an important role in the distressed debt space, and private credit firms are increasingly filling in a gap that traditional banking institutions have left behind, due to their speed of execution, certainty of funding, their ability to service high-risk borrowers as well as provide capital solutions to distressed borrowers where existing investors or lenders are unable to do so. Our panellists will discuss:
- Macroeconomic outlook- how are continued market dislocations impacting the direct lending space?
- Are private credit funds increasingly willing and able to support companies throughout the restructuring cycle?
- Will we see an increase in private credit LMEs as borrowers seek to extend runway in a high interest rate environment?
- What are the opportunities and risks that lie ahead?
-
SpeakersAjay Bijoor Managing Director and Head of Capital Structure Advisory Group BAIRD
Andersen Fisher Managing Director HPS INVESTMENT PARTNERS
Ari Lefkovits Managing Partner DELOS CAPITAL
Brian Stewart Head of Private Credit FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP
David H. Botter Partner CLEARY GOTTLIEB
Confirm cancellation
Something went wrong.
An error occurred trying to play the stream. Please reload the page and try again.
CloseSign-up to join the ION Analytics Community to:
- Register for events
- Access market insights
- Download reports
Ajay Bijoor is a Managing Director and Head of Baird’s Capital Structure Advisory Group. His career encompasses 25 years of experience in advising companies on financial restructuring, liability management, M&A and debt and equity capital raising transactions across a wide variety of industries. Previously, Ajay co-led DC Advisory’s US Debt Advisory & Restructuring Group. Ajay also spent years at Guggenheim Securities, Peter J. Solomon and Miller Buckfire & Co. Ajay began his career at Credit Suisse First Boston and Latona Associates. Ajay received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Andersen Fisher is a Managing Director at HPS Investment Partners and Portfolio Manager of the Special Situations Opportunity Funds. Prior to joining HPS in 2018, Mr. Fisher was the Managing member of Tålamod Asset Management, a distressed credit investment firm he founded in 2008. Prior to founding Tålamod, Mr. Fisher was a Principal at Watershed Asset Management, a hedge fund focused on distressed debt and special situations. Prior to Watershed, Mr. Fisher was an Associate at Golden Gate Capital, a San Francisco based private equity firm. Mr. Fisher began his principal investing career as an Analyst in the London office of private equity firm, Hicks Muse Tate & Furst. Mr. Fisher holds an AB in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard College and an MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.
Ari Lefkovits is Managing Partner of Delos Capital. Mr. Lefkovits has nearly 25 years of experience leading complex transactions for, and working closely with, investors, senior executives and boards of directors.
Prior to joining Delos Capital in 2024, Mr. Lefkovits spent his career at Lazard, where he was a Managing Director focused on capital solutions, restructuring, and liability management. During his tenure at Lazard, Mr. Lefkovits worked in the firm’s New York and London offices, where he advised on transactions totaling over $300 billion of value, including many of the firm’s largest, most complex, and award-winning transactions.
Mr. Lefkovits has advised companies, boards, creditors, investors, unions, and government entities across a wide range of corporate finance transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and reorganizations, debt exchanges and other liability management transactions, spin-offs and split-offs, debt and equity financings, joint ventures, and other matters. Mr. Lefkovits’ transaction experience spans multiple industries and geographies.
Mr. Lefkovits has testified multiple times before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, various state courts, and the New York Stock Exchange. He speaks frequently on industry panels and in the press. He has been named one of Turnarounds & Workouts' People to Watch and one of the M&A Advisor’s 40 under 40 corporate finance professionals.
Mr. Lefkovits earned an AB from Dartmouth College, magna cum laude, and a JD from Stanford University, with Distinction.
Mr. Stewart is Head of Private Credit and is based in Dallas. He serves on the Leadership Committee and is a member of several investment committees.
Mr. Stewart participates in origination, execution and asset management of private corporate credit investments across industries. Mr. Stewart has 17 years of experience investing in middle market corporate credit. Prior to joining Fortress in 2014, Mr. Stewart was a Managing Director at Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, a middle market private equity and credit investment firm, where Mr. Stewart led origination, execution and portfolio management for the direct lending, distressed debt and hybrid capital strategies. Mr. Stewart has served on the Board of Directors for Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Euramax International, IAP Worldwide Services, Bertuccis Corporation and Jonathan Engineered Solutions. Before that, Mr. Stewart was an analyst at Houlihan Lokey in the financial restructuring group.
Mr. Stewart attended the University of Southern California where he received a B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance.
David Botter’s practice focuses on large, complex restructuring cases, both out of court and in Chapter 11, across a variety of industries. He frequently handles multijurisdictional and cross-border matters for both distressed companies and major creditors, and is particularly respected for his representation of bondholders and creditors’ committees as part of his broad creditor-side practice. He also has experience representing institutional investors, hedge funds, debtors-in-possession, post-petition lenders, and acquirors of distressed assets in the health care, transportation, and energy sectors, among others.
David joined Cleary Gottlieb as a partner in 2023. Prior to joining the firm, David was a partner at another major international law firm.