JPMorgan Chase & Co. is assessing ways to relaunch funding for Qualtrics International Inc.'s purchase of Press Ganey Forsta, people with direct knowledge of the talks said. The original push stalled a few months ago, when concerns about AI's impact on software companies sparked a sector selloff and cooled lender appetite.
The lenders that had pledged financing for the Silver Lake-backed acquisition last October ended up shouldering the funding, and were then thought to be holding mark-to-market losses topping $500 million. Spokespeople for JPMorgan and Silver Lake said they had no comment.
According to the people, the JPMorgan-led syndicate is looking at a downsized structure that would divide the financing about half-and-half between high-yield bonds and leveraged loans, aiming for roughly $2 billion in each. The plan under discussion includes coming back to investors with third quarter earnings to help make the case.
Terms could tilt more toward investor protections, echoing recent software refinancings where buyers won tighter guardrails. Proofpoint Inc. and Gainwell Technologies, for example, had to sweeten deals in recent months as lenders pushed for stricter leverage caps and limits on moving assets beyond creditors' reach.
When deals and financing options are in flux, stay clear on the implications with our free Market Briefs newsletter.
Qualtrics generated $718 million of revenue in the second quarter, a shade below the prior quarter's $720 million, according to people familiar. Adjusted Ebitda increased to $332 million, compared with $257.8 million in the same period a year ago.
As of Wednesday, Qualtrics' loan maturing in 2030 was quoted near 84 cents on the dollar. It has hovered between 85 and 90 cents in recent weeks as investors tiptoe back into software debt, still below the near-par levels seen at the start of the year.
If this comes to market as a smaller, split deal with tighter covenants, it suggests credit buyers still want extra padding around software risk. Watch where pricing lands and how strong the protections are. If the pitch leans on fresh Q3 numbers, it is a reminder that when sentiment is fragile, performance talks.
Markets can change because of complex decisions, so sign up for Market Briefs to get the essentials in minutes.
