Session Descriptions

How to Navigate and Underwrite Leveraged Transactions

Thursday, August 27, 2026

9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Sometimes standard credit ratios lie. Sometimes marketing materials are misleading. There are limits to traditional underwriting procedures when highly leveraged transactions are involved. Management of highly leveraged borrowers are incentivized to adjust historical and projected results for non-recurring expenses, cost savings initiatives and/or expected synergies to secure financing at the most favorable terms. Standard underwriting practices may not meet the needs of an underwriter when leverage is incurred to finance an acquisition, large capital project, or aggressive equity distributions. This session format will help credit professionals see through the noise of management and sponsor assumptions and provide takeaways on how to underwrite highly leveraged transactions. This will be an interactive training format, so come ready to ask questions.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

1. Identify leveraged transactions and when to question traditional credit ratios
2. Understand key drivers of leverage and how to adjust underwriting to capture the risk
3. Engage in discussions with fellow credit professionals around the legitimacy of adjustments to financial results, projections and calculated ratios
4. Take home key underwriting principles and practices to strengthen your internal procedures on leveraged transactions