Ranger Capital’s Direct Lending Fund has announced a proposed issue of C shares by way of an open offer and initial placing to raise up to £40m. It will also initiate a placing programme of ordinary shares and/or C shares to raise up to £200m. Liberum and Fidante Partners Europe have been appointed as joint bookrunners in connection with the issue. Stone Mountain Capital has been appointed as placing agent. Stone Mountain Capital LTD was covered on 28th November 2016 in Structured Credit Investor (SCI) under 'Fund to issue C shares' (website requires registration).

'The Neuropsychological Component Of Oil' Article of Dr. Joaquin Abos, Senior Advisor Spain, Portugal and Emerging Markets in Stone Mountain Capital LTD was covered on 22nd November 2016 in Cinco Dias in Spanish under 'Petróleo: su componente neuropsicológico'.

Recent speculation that Deutsche Bank could be selling its Polish unit has highlighted the FX issues associated with shedding non-core mortgage assets in the country. Roughly a third of Deutsche Bank Polska's assets are said to be euro- and Swiss franc-denominated mortgages, the sale of which is likely to be challenged by the Polish regulator in an effort to maintain financial sector stability. Poland has been grappling with Swiss franc- and euro-denominated mortgage loans since the financial crisis. More than half a million Poles took out Swiss franc mortgages before the crisis to benefit from lower Swiss interest rates. Stone Mountain Capital ceo Oliver Fochler notes that while the books are "highly distressed", based on the appreciation of the Swiss franc, the underlying credit quality "might be good". Interview with Oliver Fochler was covered on 21st November 2016 in Structured Credit Investor (SCI) under 'Currency Risk Hindering Polish Mortgage Portfolio Sales' (website requires registration).

Underperforming loans in the shipping sector have skyrocketed since 2008, as shipping operators have been challenged by overcapacity and untimely investments in bigger container vessels in the wake of the financial crisis. This has left banks in the US$400bn market with the challenge of offloading a string of non-performing loans. Pillarstone's business model regarding non-performing loans entails taking control of troubled firms and turning them around with new capital from KKR. The novelty is in the management of the bank loans, with the goal of attaining repayment and giving banks part of any extra profits. The firm's business model involves, as one Pillarstone representative tells SCI, "governance and management of the loans, without taking them off the banks' books".  Oliver Fochler, managing partner and ceo of Stone Mountain Capital, echoes a similar view when he states that private equity firms are "managing and restructuring" such capital-intensive assets. He adds that there is nothing surprising here, given the "tendency of private equity firms - within their newly founded debt units - to move towards high-yielding NPLs and private debt, due to yield compression." Interview with Oliver Fochler was covered on 10th November 2016 in Structured Credit Investor (SCI) under 'KKR targets shipping loans' (website requires registration).