JPMorgan Chase & Co. is seeking investors for a $1.89 billion first-lien loan for Trucordia, a Utah-based insurance brokerage, marking another instance of Wall Street banks stepping in to refinance debt originally issued through private credit channels.
The new financing effort reflects a growing trend in which major banks offer more attractively priced first- and second-lien loan structures to replace costlier private credit deals. According to sources familiar with the matter, the JPMorgan-led refinancing aims to replace Trucordia’s previous private loan package, which carried an interest rate of 5.5 percentage points over the benchmark rate. Private credit firms including BlackRock Inc., AB Private Credit Investors, Morgan Stanley, and Blue Owl Capital were involved in the original financing, according to regulatory filings.
While the first-lien portion of the loan is being marketed by JPMorgan, private credit remains engaged in the transaction. Blue Owl is said to be leading the second-lien portion of the refinancing, estimated at approximately $548 million. Representatives for JPMorgan and Blue Owl declined to comment, and other private lenders involved did not respond to requests.
Banks Gain Ground on Private Credit
Wall Street lenders have recently gained momentum in reclaiming market share from private credit funds, particularly in sectors like insurance brokerage, where refinancing deals have produced significant cost savings. These banks can often offer more competitive pricing, leveraging the traditional syndicated loan market to undercut private lenders’ unitranche structures.
For example, last month Alera Group Inc., another insurance-focused firm, reduced its borrowing costs by about two percentage points by refinancing through bank-led loans. Similar to the Trucordia transaction, private credit remained involved through the second-lien layer of the capital stack.
JPMorgan also recently led a $1.27 billion term loan refinancing for CFC Underwriting Ltd., replacing debt that had been provided by direct lenders including KKR & Co. and Blackstone Inc. The new loan priced at 3.75 percentage points over the base rate, compared to 4.95 percentage points on the previous debt, resulting in lower financing costs.
Broader Implications
These transactions illustrate a broader recalibration in the credit landscape. As of March, speculative-grade insurance brokers had about $86 billion in rated debt outstanding, according to Moody’s Ratings. The full scale of private credit exposure remains unclear due to limited public data, but numerous firms — including Davies Group, Foundation Risk Partners, Galway Insurance Holdings, and World Insurance Associates — have relied on direct lenders in recent years.
While private credit remains an essential tool, particularly for riskier second-lien financing, institutional borrowers are increasingly turning to banks like JPMorgan for more efficient refinancing solutions. The Trucordia transaction highlights this shift — and could signal further erosion of private credit’s dominance in large-scale corporate lending deals.
