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Dash for Cash On as Corporate Titans Draw Down Credit Lines

  • Blackstone, Carlyle advise portfolio companies to tap loans
  • Wave of borrowers include businesses hit by virus, oil slump
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
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Under duress from a viral pandemic and plummeting oil prices, corporate America is facing its most severe test since the 2008 crisis. A swath of the nation’s biggest names is maxing out credit lines, grabbing cash before it can disappear.

Behind the scenes, some CEOs and their finance chiefs are calling bankers this week to ask for liquidity. And throughout the day Wednesday, word leaked out on company after company pulling from existing facilities.