Yes, there is :). Take equity control of the company (which should be cheap enough for a badly-doing company) - now you'd have control over the financing decisi

Yes, there is :). Take equity control of the company (which should be cheap enough for a badly-doing company) - now you'd have control over the financing decisions of the company. Issue "junior" debt uncollateralized by the company's assets. Use the cash so raised to buy off "senior"/"secured" debt outstanding in the market. When the company goes into bankruptcy, you get the first cut on the assets :). PS: Actually it's not so simple - when the company is highly leveraged, existing bondholders often do have a say in future financing decisions of the company.