Winding Up is 9fin's weekly newsletter, incorporating summaries and commentary from our European distressed coverage for the past week. Find out more about what we do for distressed here.

Cast your mind back two years, just as inflation soared and interest rates began their ascent. Expectations were that we could be seeing the makings of a real default cycle, where restructurings would have to materially delever companies and lenders would have to stomach painful haircuts.

Well, with the wealth of two-years’ experience, that really wasn’t the case — was it? We’re still firmly in the era of amend and extend.

Case in point, Intrum Justitia. The distressed debt purchaser unveiled a refinancing proposal it had negotiated, and agreed in principle, with most of the company’s longer-dated bonds (2025-2028).

So what does the deal do? It’s effectively a big A&E — in-line with what sources told us months ago.

Now, calling it a big A&E is a bit reductive. The deal does include some deleveraging; most of Intrum’s debt maturing in 2024, and some in 2025, would be paid off in-full. Bondholders have to swallow a 10% haircut to their notes, which will will be reinstated into several indentures of exchange notes with maturities ranging from 2027 to 2030.