Shell published yesterday a net profit of 27The autonomy of museums grew dramaticallyI do not think a real crisis of liquidity042 euros against a more modest tax of 9Some are paying others everything depends on the contractLess expensiveBecause another competition is to take off it is the IRC000 employees of Volkswagen will pass under the 11Not be prohibited no movement no countryI signed without discussing the price 100And the project does not advance without hiccupsAfter the triumph of the acquisitions effect of leverage (LBO) in 2007 until July at least the year 2008 will see take off of the actors in the "distressed" "Flipping", "special situations", the "restructuring" or depreciated debt in any case have the rating in capital investment. Investors have brought them last year's $ 35 billion of fresh money, double the previous year, which was itself an increase of 19 over 2005, according to the firm Preqin.
Juicy purchase opportunities
Experts from the repurchase of debt décotée are the most numerous, with 167 Fund identified worldwide by Preqin, against 79 funds for "special situations" to firms in difficulty. By throwing the stigmatization on all categories of credit risk as financing of LBO, the "subprime" crisis has emerged of juicy opportunities to purchase on the secondary market. On average, the senior debt of the 35 largest LBO in Europe including Numericable, Rexel and Orangina is currently processing with a haircut medium of the order of 6 (instead of a very slight premium before the crisis of the summer), according to the Itraxx LevX index, although these companies are still in good health.
These discounts attract logically from new players, as the French alternative investments Tikehau Capital structure, which has already lifted 150 million for a vehicle for all types of debts décotées (LBO, real estate, securitized, etc.). "Tikehau had never lifted of funds as quickly", emphasize its proponents Antoine Flamarion and Bruno de Pampelonne, aimed at a final goal of $ 450 million, or a power of intervention of 1.3 billion, including leverage. The yields of these trades are indeed salivate investors: they ranged between 15 and 35 net for vehicles surveys between 1999 and 2004, above the average of equity funds, estimated Preqin.
Tension
But in a more uncertain economic environment, eyes turned mainly to actors of the reversal. "Since the end of 2007, we see an increasing number of LBO to enter renegotiations with their lenders, said the lawyer Guilhem Brémond, founder of Brémond & associates." It is more simply to discuss a "covenants" (planned financial ratios in contracts for loans, Editor's note) as before, but refinancing or spreading of payments issues.
Sign of the tension of the lenders, "the renegotiations of the"legal"(derogations to certain clauses, Editor's note), which were relatively easy to get a few months ago, are today more difficult to obtain," notes Jean-Pierre Farges, a partner at Ashurst. But the degradation of the environment, ensures has not affected for the time companies of significant size. Only "a limited number of LBO of the"mid-market", in affected areas", had to sit at the table of negotiations with their bankers last twelve months. "The LBO companies react in General earlier than others and benefit from the safeguards Act to initiate a conciliation or resort to ad hoc mandate" note Rodolphe Pacciarella, in charge of the relief of enterprise in Aon Accuracy.
Alongside banking actors of debt "distressed" (Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America or Morgan Stanley) and specialised funds (GPT, Butler, Caravelle, D & P), other operators are beginning to focus on the business of flipping; 3i has established a team, even if the British investment firm is not a priority. "We are more often sought only on the LBO which does not proceed as planned", finds an investor capital whose is not trade, but which does not seize the opportunities.
