Private credit lenders take control of Netceed with €70m swap now

Pemberton Asset Management, Blue Owl Capital and HayFin Capital Management have moved from lender to owner of troubled telecom supplier Netceed through a debt-to-equity conversion that gives creditors operational control. The deal includes a fresh liquidity injection of €70m (about $81.2m), part of a wider effort to stabilise the group's finances.

Under the restructuring, multiple private credit holders agreed to forgive parts of outstanding borrowings in exchange for equity stakes, sources close to the negotiations said. The operation addresses immediate cash needs while converting more than $1bn of term loans—mostly held by non-bank lenders—into ownership, a pattern increasingly visible across Europe.

The move comes while Cinven remains the sponsor overseeing Netceed's operations. The capital top-up is intended to secure short-term liquidity and buy time for management to execute a longer-term plan to restore margins and diversify the customer base, after orders from major clients such as Altice USA and Altice France weakened.

This transaction sits within a broader industry trend. The private credit market—estimated at roughly $1.7 trillion—has seen a rise in creditor-led restructurings and debt-to-equity swaps as higher interest rates squeeze borrowers and reduce refinancing options. Market participants say such swaps allow private lenders to protect downside and potentially capture upside if turnaround plans work.

Financially, the package mirrors earlier stopgaps Netceed secured, including an arrangement in April that gave access to over $150m of liquidity plus waivers and covenant relief. Negotiators kept those mechanisms in place while hammering out a broader capital-structure reset to reduce immediate default risk.

Not all parties commented publicly; representatives for Pemberton, Blue Owl and HayFin declined to speak on the record. The restructuring also drew interest from other credit investors reportedly involved in discussions, including CVC Credit Partners and Permira Credit, underscoring the deal's complexity.

For private credit firms, this is a test of governance and asset-management skills: converting debt into equity can lock in control but also requires hands-on operational improvement to realise value. For Netceed, the immediate outcome is clear—an enlarged cash buffer and a new shareholder base aligned with a rescue and recovery timetable.