ANALYSIS: Pandemic Drives Companies to Nontraditional Finance

The stay-at-home orders issued by states to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic abruptly shuttered businesses and shook the stock market, driving an economic downturn that may rival the Great Depression. Companies, public and private, are scrambling for any port in this storm. They are trying to restructure their debt and are increasingly seeking nontraditional finance options such as lifelines from the federal government, heavy utilization of bank lines of credit, and private investors.

The currently depressed and volatile public markets limit the traditional financing options normally available to public companies. But, all things being equal, private companies ...