Matt Levine’s Money Stuff: Citi and Revlon Are in Murky Waters

Revlon

Let’s see:

• In 2016, Revlon Inc. borrowed $1.8 billion from some banks and hedge funds using a seven-year term loan secured by Revlon’s assets. Citibank NA advised on the loan and served as its administrative agent.

• In 2019 and 2020, Revlon took some of the collateral for the 2016 term loan and snuck it out, away from the lenders: It put much of its intellectual property, including brands like American Crew, Elizabeth Arden, Almay and Mitchum, into new subsidiaries (generally called “BrandCo”) that did not secure the 2016 loan. It borrowed some new money secured by those brands, and ...