As 9fin stated back in September 2024: “One person’s cooperation turns out to be another’s collusion.” Sure enough, Optimum Communications fka Altice USA sees collusion. Explicitly. “When these creditors decry ‘creditor-on-creditor violence,’ they are really just articulating the traditional logic of a cartel: the belief that collusion between rivals yields better outcomes for those in the cartel,” says the 25 November complaint.

Selecta’s minority bondholders similarly commenced litigation similarly categorizing a cooperation agreement between creditors as an “anticompetitive and collusive agreement between competitors.” However, unlike the Optimum complaint, which goes into great detail identifying a relevant market, antitrust injury theory, and addressing contemplated pro-competitive justification arguments, Selecta’s complaint seems to withhold any detailed preview in favor of waiting for the actual briefing to be filed. Additionally, Selecta’s market is inherently smaller since the cooperation agreement only covers a subset of first lien debt. As the minority bondholders noted in their complaint, “Defendants’ anticompetitive conduct exclusively targeted the market for Selecta Group B.V.’s first lien debt.” In contrast, Optimum’s challenge extends to it’s entire capital structure and the leveraged finance market at large.