Cloud 9fin

JP Morgan’s investment banking unit is so massive it has become almost synonymous with record-breaking financings. But a new initiative is expanding the bank’s coverage to include a segment of the market often overlooked by the largest institutions on the street: small-cap deals.
This past July — just months after the firm’s bankers led the financing for Electronic Arts, the largest buyout in history — JP Morgan announced an expansion of its middle market team to focus on transactions valued at between $100m and $500m.
The team has grown since. Yesterday morning (27 October), JP Morgan announced the addition of four managing directors to the small-cap team, bringing head count to 12 bankers.
The small-cap space has for years had its own ecosystem: specialized investment banks, small sponsors and direct lenders fueled growth while their larger counterparts focused on transactions with bigger price tags. Recent years, however, have brought a slowdown in M&A, especially in the sponsor market, and industry players are looking down-market at opportunities to deploy capital.
In this episode of Cloud 9fin, JP Morgan’s Michael Flynn, the new head of the small-cap investment banking team, talks with 9fin’s Tom Quinn about why we are seeing such growth in the space now, the role of the bank’s direct lending arm in small cap advisory work and issues founders face that are unique to the smaller market.
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Puerto Rico may have filed to formally restructure back in 2017, but the lessons that can be learned still apply today. Former oversight board member David Skeel joins Jane Komsky to discuss his new book Promise Land which delves into the creditor battles, political compromises and lessons behind and beyond his experience navigating the restructuring.
Skeel maps the competing claims of roughly $18bn of General Obligation bonds, $18bn of sales tax-backed Cofina bonds, clawback creditors, pension bonds and general unsecured creditors. He also recounts Aurelius’ role and attempt to mastermind the restructuring.
The discussion explains how Promesa created the oversight board and Title III restructuring framework, and why Skeel believes an out-of-court resolution was ultimately unworkable. He recounts some of the unforeseeable obstacles including Hurricane Maria, political upheaval and the pandemic repeatedly disrupted negotiations, as well as divisions within the board complicating its dealings with creditors.
For distressed and municipal bond investors, Skeel’s conclusions extend beyond Puerto Rico. To get the full story, Skeel’s book is available for purchase here.
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New Fortress Energy, Fossil Group and Argo Blockchain are putting English restructuring plans on the map for US-listed borrowers. What draws them across the Atlantic, and what does that choice mean for creditors?
Will Macadam joins Linklaters restructuring partners Michael Torkin and James Warboys to break down how the US’s more comprehensive Chapter 11 bankruptcy process compares to the England’s more targeted Part 26A restructuring plan.
The discussion touches upon what companies can do with a Chapter 11 filing that cannot be achieved with an English Part 26A and vice versa, why Part 26A plans have proven popular with some publicly-listed US companies, and how advisors decide where a distressed company should restructure its liabilities.
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On the pilot episode of Subprime Time — a podcast dedicated to unpacking all things asset-backed finance (ABF) — deputy editor Sasha Padbidri and ABF reporter Harrison Connery dive into the revival of music royalty asset-backed securities. They trace the market’s evolution from “Bowie bonds” to the current impact of generative AI on the asset class. Case in point: if a heartbroken teen can prompt AI to create a custom breakup song that sounds identical to Taylor Swift, what does that mean for the value of legacy catalogs?
Harrison also shares his reporting on which music catalogs investment firms are currently snapping up, plus the surprising origin story behind Kygo’s hit remix of Whitney Houston’s “Higher Love”.
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While many European direct lenders are struggling to hit their fundraising targets, Hayfin has just pulled in more than €15bn.
On Cloud 9fin, Synne Johnsson speaks with Hayfin’s head of direct lending Mark Bickerstaffe about fundraising, deployment and the changing balance of power in European private credit. He explains how investor diversification away from the US has helped Hayfin attract capital.
The conversation also examines portfolio resilience, inflation risks and artificial intelligence. Looking ahead, it touches on refinancing challenges around 2028 and 2029 maturities, opportunities in capital solutions and asset-backed lending, and reasons for cautious optimism about deal activity later in 2026.
Have any feedback for us? Send us a note at podcast@9fin.com. Thanks for listening!