(Bloomberg) -- Alacrity Solutions has entered into restructuring talks with its private credit lenders less than two years after the insurance claims manager was acquired by BlackRock Inc., according to people with knowledge of the matter.
This marks the latest large restructuring to come to light in the private credit world this year, as companies continue to grapple with higher rates and private credit managers struggle to stay ahead of potential losses. Pluralsight Inc. restructured earlier this year and lenders took the keys to the business.
Some market participants have warned of increased stress, as interest-rate relief keeps being pushed back. Defaults have remained low in the private markets, partially due to “kicking the can down the road between borrower and lender,” Co-Deputy Managing Partner of Davidson Kempner Capital Management Patrick Dennis said.
Private lenders are often able to stay ahead of restructurings and defaults by quietly amending loans and finding other solutions. However, even those back-door strategies have been put to the test in recent months.
A report by JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts on Oct. 8 tried to shed some light on distress in private credit, which is by its very nature an opaque industry.
Their research showed that non-accruals in private credit have been rising since late-2022 but remain below levels hit during the pandemic and align with trends in the leveraged loan market. Combining non-accruals with defaults logged by the KBRA DLD Direct Lending Index suggests a private credit default rate of roughly 5%, the analysts wrote.
Another important metric is income designated as “payment in kind,” or PIK, which allow borrowers to pay with goods or services rather than cash. PIK income can be a sign of distress ahead of default, and its portion of total net investment income has risen to 15.2% as of the second quarter from 13.7% a year earlier, according to the report.
The JPMorgan analysts noted that there is wide dispersion across investment managers, and those that are heavily weighted in software tend to have higher PIK income because of how the loans are structured.
“Not all PIK loans are toxic,” they wrote.
Alacrity’s debt load includes roughly $1 billion in unitranche financing from Antares Capital, Blue Owl Capital Inc., KKR & Co. and others, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing a private transaction. Alacrity also has a mezzanine loan from Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The debt was already in place when BlackRock bought a majority stake in the company from Kohlberg & Co. in February 2023, the people said.
The negotiations come just months after direct lenders took ownership of educational-software company Pluralsight from Vista Equity Partners, the first major restructuring since private credit began taking Wall Street by storm. Alacrity, which handles insurance claims through a network of adjusters, has struggled over the past few quarters amid fewer weather-related claims, the people said.
Among options being discussed is a new capital injection, they said. The restructuring isn’t expect to affect the company’s operations, one of the people said. The talks are ongoing and no terms have been agreed upon, the person added.
Some details of Alacrity’s restructuring talks were first reported on Wednesday by 9fin.
In Europe, Carlyle handed over its luxury streetwear retailer End Clothing to lender Apollo, and Pemberton assumed control of personnel provider Univativ.
BlackRock is working with Evercore Inc., while Centerview Partners and AlixPartners are advising the company, the people said. The unitranche direct lenders are being advised by Latham & Watkins and FTI Consulting Inc., they added.
Representatives for Alacrity, BlackRock, Blue Owl, KKR, GSAM and FTI declined to comment. Antares, Evercore, Centerview, Alix Partners and Latham & Watkins did not respond to requests seeking comment.
--With assistance from Francesca Veronesi, Libby Cherry and Silas Brown.
(Adds potential capital injection detail in 12th paragraph, 9fin reporting in 13th paragraph.)
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