Dean Foods Company · Bankruptcy · 2019 · 6.500% Senior Notes due 2023
Does the instrument meet the Not Subordinated characteristic?
Verified answer
Basis. The obligation is described as senior (not subordinated).
Source clauses
How it was checked · 3 checks
- Rule re-applied. The Not Subordinated rule (v1.0), re-applied to the stored facts, gives the same result as the code-only Mastermind v3 run of 2026-09-25 (deterministic extraction, no model).
- Quote verified. The clause quoted for seniority appears verbatim in the cited sections.
- Independent extractor. A second heuristic extractor, run separately, also finds seniority: senior.
Not Subordinated
The obligation must not be subordinated to the Reference Obligation (or the Prior Reference Obligation, if applicable). CDSBench checks that the obligation is described as senior. When the Reference Entity owes the obligation through a guarantee, CDSBench tests the underlying obligation the same way and also looks for a clause subordinating the guarantee: one that names the Reference Entity and its Guarantee fails the test; any other subordination wording found is left for review.
These checks are CDSBench's provisional reading of the 2014 ISDA Credit Derivatives Definitions, not legal advice.
Instrument: 6.500% Senior Notes due 2023
Source documents
The case record. Sections behind the verified answer are marked.
- DOC-1 Dean Foods 8-K filed 2019-11-12, Item 1.03 Bankruptcy (and Item 2.04), petition 2019-11-12excerpts
- DOC-2 Indenture dated February 25, 2015, 6.500% Senior Notes due 2023 (EX-4.1)excerpts
Related questions and cases
Same case
- #1 Is the instrument a Deliverable Obligation for this credit event, on 7 checks: the issuer is the Reference Entity; the Maximum Maturity (30 years), Specified Currency, Not Subordinated, Not Bearer and Transferable characteristics; and Not Contingent?Eligible
- #2 Does the instrument meet the Maximum Maturity characteristic (30 years)?Yes
- #3 Does the instrument meet the Specified Currency characteristic (USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD)?Yes
- #5 Does the instrument meet the Not Bearer characteristic?Yes
- #6 Is the instrument Not Contingent (principal not reducible for a reason other than payment)?Yes
- #7 Does the instrument meet the Transferable characteristic?Yes
- #8 Is the issuer of the instrument the Reference Entity?Yes
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