Over the past several years, unitranche facilities have become increasingly prevalent. This growth has been driven by the ever-growing class of private credit and direct lenders who initially developed the unitranche facility structure, along with traditional bank lenders now joining this market. The unitranche structure has several advantages, including typically quicker execution for the parties involved and in some cases a lower cost of capital to the borrower.

Secured lenders are troubled at the recent news that a New York state court judge denied a preliminary injunction request filed in the Supreme Court of New York by a group of dissenting first-lien lenders, seeking to prevent a borrower, Serta Simmons, and certain first-lien consenting lenders from entering into a recapitalization transaction. In exchange for the purchase of the consenting lenders’ debt at a discount, the consenting lenders received new super-priority debt ranking ahead of the non-consenting lenders’ debt.

On Friday, the California Department of Financial Institutions closed Sonoma Valley Bank, headquartered in Sonoma, California, and appointed the FDIC as receiver.

On Friday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed Community National Bank at Bartow [http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/release/2010-101.htm], headquartered in Bartow, Florida, and Independent National Bank, headquartered in Ocala, Florida, and appointed the FDIC as receiver.

On Friday, the California Department of Financial Institutions closedButte Community Bank, headquartered in Chico, California, and Pacific State Bank, headquartered in Stockton, California, and appointed the FDIC as receiver for the two banks.

On Friday, the Office of Thrift Supervision closed Imperial Savings and Loan Association, headquartered in Martinsville, Virginia, and appointed the FDIC as receiver.

Friday, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Banking closed Lincoln Park Savings Bank, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and the FDIC was appointed receiver.

Friday, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Banking closed Wheatland Bank, headquartered in Naperville, Illinois, and the FDIC was appointed receiver.

Friday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed Amcore Bank, National Association, headquartered in Rockford, Illinois, and the FDIC was appointed receiver.

Friday, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Banking closed Peotone Bank and Trust Company, headquartered in Peotone, Illinois, and the FDIC was appointed receiver.