States move to limit litigation finance

Blackstone agrees to acquire HSBC Australia book, scoring biggest mortgage buy in history

Blackstone has agreed the purchase of the largest mortgage portfolio in history, HSBC Australia’s A$36bn ($25bn) book. The bank had been exploring exit options for its Australian arm since last year, with National Australia Bank reported to be in the lead, but the sale was recast earlier this year as a loan book exit, with Blackstone the preferred bidder from May onwards.

Cache flow — How GPU-backed financings are breaking ground

When CoreWeave tapped the syndicated loan market for billions of dollars in GPU-backed financing earlier this year, demand was so strong that one lender described it as a “food fight.”

Ares adopts ‘super-diversified’ strategy for new $8.5bn ABF fund

This story has been updated with information about Pathfinder II commitments’ extended re-investment period, in the second paragraph. The latest iteration of Ares’ flagship asset-backed finance strategy has pension funds and other investors willing to accept higher fees in exchange for returns as high as 15%.

AI warning signs, Part Two — It’s IPO o’clock, do you know where your credit returns are?

GPs turn to pref equity to scale CFOs amid fundraising pains

GPs are increasingly adding preferred equity tranches to their collateralised fund obligations (CFOs), using the extra layer to help facilitate raising larger pools of capital as private equity fundraising remains sluggish and distributions to investors subdued.

A Hollywood movie, a Beverly Hills mansion and a lender lawsuit — Inside the debt-fueled war for Archie Comics

Archie Andrews was headed to Hollywood. In August last year, Universal Studios struck a deal to bring Archie, the carrot-top protagonist of the 85-year-old comic book series by the same name that brought iconic characters Veronica, Betty, and Jughead to life, to the big screen.