Brightspeed and its sponsor Apollo are considering an ABS transaction that would subordinate the internet provider’s existing lenders without paying down term loan debt, according to 9fin sources.
9fin first reported the planned ABS raise on 10 June. 9fin sources said the ABS was Apollo’s only viable path to raising the capital Brightspeed needs, given the constraints of the credit agreement.
Brightspeed, an internet service provider, is working with PJT Partners on the ABS raise, 9fin previously reported. The First Lien First Out (FLFO) lenders are organized with Gibson Dunn and Moelis & Company, and the First Lien Second Out (FLSO) lenders with Davis Polk and Centerview Partners, as 9fin has previously reported.
The company completed a liability management exercise in 2024, which raised $3.65bn of new money split across the first, second, and third out tranches. The LME also exchanged secured debt at a 23% discount into FLSO and first Lien Fourth Out facilities.
In August 2025, Brightspeed issued an additional $1.6bn of first lien, first out debt, which led S&P to downgrade the company’s issuer rating by one notch to ‘CCC+’.
The company issued a going concern warning when it reported Q2 26 earnings...
