It just so happens that the company which makes scaffolding currently needs support of its own.
Brand Industrial, which is owned by CD&R and Brookfield, has seen its $1.3bn term loan due August 2030 plunged in value over the last year, with 9fin data showing recent quotes in deeply distressed levels of 76 cents on the dollar. It reported in Q1 26 that adjusted earnings fell by about a fifth year-over-year, as tariffs pushed commercial construction to a four year low.
In what has become a standard playbook when companies enter distressed territory — with language baked into the debt documents — lenders to the business can band together in negotiations with the company in what is known as a cooperation agreement. This co-op, however, had a unique provision: the company’s private equity owners were invited to join.
Some private equity sponsors are being invited to sign on to cooperation agreements which were originally promoted as a tool for creditors to unify against companies seeking to cut unfavorable deals with some of their lenders at the expense of the others. This lender-driven development has now allowed sponsors to buy back outstanding company debt under this co-op's terms.
