One Of The Last Covenant Lite LBO´s Is Already Hitting The Wall

Oh boy..... Seems to be not a smart move to do a LBO in the music industry......Shocking! But that the worst case is coming just 6 month after the deal is done shows you how incomptente the buyers & lenders have become...... Needless to say that the rating agencies are as always way behind the curve and are just starting to wake up ( see Moody’s names ‘aggressive’ buy-outs )

Was für ein Deal..... Sieht ganz so aus als wenn ein LBO in der Musikindustrie nicht die beste aller Ideen ist. Wirklich überraschend....... Der eigentliche Hammer ist das bereits nach 6 Monaten anscheinend alle Dämme brechen. Das zeigt recht deutlich wie vollkommen abgehoben der Käufer und die Kreditgeber auf dem Höhepunkt der Übernahmewelle gewesen sind. Überflüssig zu erwähnen das die Ratingagenturen wie zuletzt üblich im Tiefschlaf gewesen sind und erst langsam erwachen ( siehe Moody's outet aggressive Investoren )


EMI falters on £2bn Citi loan facility? FT Alphaville
This weekend, EMI gave, perhaps, a grim portent of things to come for leveraged buyouts.

By our reckoning, Monday’s £200m rights issue is, in fact, an “equity cure.”

This equity has probably been issued to meet a cash-flow shortfall - real or projected - on EMI’s £2bn loan facility with Citi, put in place this July when the record label was the object of an LBO from Terra Firma. The cure may be required to bolster faltering EBITDA to debt ratios tested by the loan facility.

Cause for around a third of its workforce - or around 1,700 jobs - to be slashed, as reported by the Mail on Sunday.

Other LBOs too, are likely to be feeling the pinch. What, we wonder, will be the impact on deals such as Alliance Boots - where the debt taken on board is an eye-watering £12bn.

The Citi facility for EMI was one of the last “covenant-lite” LBO financing deals to be pushed through. Under more common LBO financing terms, we suspect EMI would be looking at a default.

> Time to review An investment banking lexicon :The post-credit squeeze edition :-)

COVENANT-LITE
Pre-squeeze: Please pay back the money (no rush)
Post-squeeze: Please get approval for all expenses above £50

EMI
Pre-squeeze: Coveted transaction
Post-squeeze: Distressed debt play