Europe Wellcomes American Investors
As lenders sell their bad loans to "distress investors" that are interested in taking over the borrowers, Europe is in for a rise in leveraged buyout restructurings, according to source.
In
the surging "loan-to-own" deals, hedge fund or private equity investors
acquire existing bank loans at steep discounts to their face value. The
investors then work to take over the firms by swapping debt for equity,
the report explained.
US
distress investors such as Oaktree and New York's Apollo Management
have raised capital and beefed up their European groups after the
financial crisis. According to private equity investors, many of the
banks have now recapitalized and are looking to accelerate the disposal
of their assets, the report stated.
In
the past two years, American investors have also been noticeably
visible in Europe. This is partly due to their belief that there are
better deals there than in the US, where prices have increased so much,
the report detailed.
Source: Venture Capital Post
