Companies squeezedCompanies spent the last decade raising cash...

Companies squeezed

Companies spent the last decade raising cash at really cheap rates, basing their business models on the assumption that they’d have access to markets if they needed more money. That’s all changed, but most firms raised so much when rates were near zero that they didn’t need to tap markets when the hiking cycle began.

The problem now is “higher for longer.” Weaker companies that had been relying on their cash cushions to make it through this period of higher funding costs may be forced to tap markets to deal with a wall of debt that’s coming due. And if they do, they’ll need to pay almost double their current debt costs for cash.