Anchorage picked up a portion of debt in Slater & Gordon that was held by Citigroup in November, according to sources.

The New York group was part of a syndicate of second-tier lenders that bought Citigroup's debt in Slater & Gordon for 38¢ in the dollar.

The acquisition of the debt by Anchorage has sparked speculation that the way is being paved for a potential rescue of the company next year.

Slater & Gordon has net debt of $682 .3 million and a market capitalisation of $111 million as of close of trade on Friday.

However, such a plan is expected to be dependent on Slater & Gordon's main bankers National Australia Bank and Westpac on-selling their debt.

Westpac has already recognised its $300 million exposure to Slater & Gordon as a stressed loan, and NAB is believed to have done the same with its exposure.

Unlike major banks, second-tier lenders are often more flexible in their approach to a company that has a strong underlying business but terrible balance sheet.

Second-tier lenders can also be more aggressive in calling for restructures or recapitalisations.

Several financially troubled companies in Australia have faced similar situations of having their debt on-sold to second-tier lenders and had bright futures, most notably shopping centre owner Centro.

Anchorage, which is not affiliated with Australian private equity house Anchorage Capital Partners of Dick Smith fame, was involved in the debt-for-equity swap that brought energy company Alinta back from the brink of collapse. Other companies, such as Nine Entertainment, have also been able to get over their debt troubles while having second-tier lenders holding their debt.

Similarly to Centro, Slater & Gordon also has a $250 million class action hanging over its head.

Citigroup was an adviser and underwriter along with Greenhills on Slater & Gordon's ill-fated acquisition of the professional services business of British group Quindell last year. Citi also provided a portion of the debt used to underpin the $1.3 billion acquisition.

Within months of the acquisition being sealed Quindell was subject to the SFO investigation in Britain and was forced to restate its accounts for its 2013 year.

Slater & Gordon booked an $879 million-plus impairment in 2016, of which $814.2 million related to the writedown in goodwill in its Quindell business, underperformance in the British operations and an adverse movement in work in progress of $41.3 million.

As a result Slater & Gordon posted a $1 billion-plus loss in 2016.

The company was also forced to restate its accounts during 2016 after an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.