2009 Starts With A New Record......Largest & Fasted LBO Bankruptcy Filing......

At least to my knowledge.....Barely one year after buying the US chemical company Lyondell for $ 19 billion the 3rd. largest chemical company is filing for bankruptcy for 79 of its global affiliates Details via FT Alphaville. According to Breaking News ( no link ) the deal was financed with $ 13 billion of new debt. The major piece was a $ 8 billion bridge loan with a coupon of 9,5 percent...... After the refinancing collapsed ( what a surprise ) the rate jumped to 12 percent..... And some still think the prices for the leveraged loan market are not reflecting the real market prices ( have heard many conference calls from banks that still refuse to mark to market their leveraged loan book "our loan is different...") See update at the end of the post...... This is indeed a perfet example of how much excess has fueled that LBO & Private Equity markets until 2007..... Maybe the CEO from Dow Chemical should read the bankruptcy filing very closely...... The following chart is a good guide that more Chapter 11 filings are on the way and this record won´t last for long............

Zumindest meinem Kenntnisstand nach......Knapp ein Jahr nach der Übernahme des US Chemieunternehmens Lyondell für satte 19 Mrd $ hat das in Rekordzeit zum drittgrößte "hochgezüchtete" Chemieunternehmen LyondellBasell für 79 Tochterunternehmen ( siehe Details via FT Alphaville ) Insolvenz angemelden müssen. Nach Angaben von Breaking News (kein Link) ist die Übernahme seinerzeit mit 13 Mrd $ an neuen Verbindlichkeiten gestemmt worden. Davon satte 8 Mrd $ mittels einer Brückenfinanzierung die zügig refinanziert werden sollte. Wie wir alle wissen ist den Kreditmärkten nach jahrelangem Tiefschlaf ein Licht aufgegangen und die Banken blieben auf Ihren Krediten sitzen. Der Zinssatz dieser Finanzierung ist von seinerzeit 8% auf nun 12% gestiegen. Schon lustig wenn immer noch einige denken das die gehandelten Preise für diese Leverage Loans als übertrieben niedrig betrachtet werden und die Weigerung nach "Mark-to-Markt" zu bilanzieren ständig erneuert werden. Verweise hier auf das Update am Ende...... Bin mal gespannt ob Ackermann & Co ( "Unsere Leveraged Loans sind anders"....sprich besser als der breite Index ) bei der nächsten Präsentation der Abschreibungsrunde in Ihren Kommentaren etwas demütiger werden...... Dieses Beispiel zeigt mehr als eindrucksvoll wie vollkommen irre die Exzesse bis zum Jahr 2007 im Bereich LBO und Private Equity gewesen sind...... Ich hoffe der CEO von Dow Chemical der ja momentan drauf und dran ist einen vergelichbaren Fehler zu wiederholen liest sich das Filing ganz genau durch. Hätte Familie Schaeffer beim Contideal auch gut zu Gesicht gestanden..... Der nachfolgende Chart dürfte einen Vorgeschmack darauf geben was uns an Problemfällen nich erwartet...... Tippe mal das dieser Rekord von LyondellBasell noch in diesem Jahr gebrochen wird..... FAZ Auf die Gläubiger kommen hohe Verluste zu & FT Deutschland Großaktionär flüchtet aus Air Berlin Da benötigt aber einer dringend Kohle um bei Lyondell zu "verbilligen".......

This chart illustrates further that Private Equity wasn´t the only one that fell in love with debt.... Several listed and former sound companies will pay a very high price for their way to often megalomaniac takeovers and mergers. Just ask Rio Tinto.... They bought Alcan with close to $ 40 billion of new debt just to fend off the BHP Billiton approach ( see Debt Details via FT Alphaville ) A poison pill indeed....... :-)

Diese Übersicht belegt eindeutig das nicht alleine Private Equity dem Wahn des billigen Geldes und unsolider Übernahmen erlegen ist..... Unglücklicherweise wird es auch viele ehemals solide Unternehmen erwischen die Ihre oft wahnwitzigen Megadeals in Cash also neuen Krediten finanziert haben. Fragt mal bei Rio Tinto nach...... Die haben einzig und alleine um die Übernahme durch BHP Billion zu verhindern mal eben für knapp 40 Mrd $ Alcan erworben..... Selbstredend fast ausschließlich durch die Aufnahme neuer Schulden ( Deteils der Verschuldung ...... Das nenne ich mal ne echte Giftpille.......

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- LyondellBasell Industries AF SCA’s Lyondell Chemical unit and some other U.S. affiliates, citing waning demand for their products, filed for bankruptcy in New York.

Lyondell Chemical, based in Houston, has assets of $27.1 billion, debt of more than $19.4 billion and more than 25,000 creditors, according to a petition filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. Seventy-nine of the company’s affiliates also will file for court protection, including Basell Finance USA Inc., according to the filing. ( see Text via FT Alphaville )

LyondellBasell, one of the world’s largest closely held chemical producers, said it sought protection for its U.S. business because of a “dramatic softening in demand” during the past six months as well as “unprecedented volatility in raw materials costs.” The company said in a statement that it expects a recovery during 2009.

> No word about the massive leverage....... If their recovery plan is based on the assumption that there will be a rebound in 2009 that will last i think it is a safe bet that they are still smoking some of the funny stuff.....

> Schon peinlich wie der Hautgrund, die extrem hohe Verschuldung, nicht erwähnt wird...... Fast genauso peinlich ist die Annahme das sich bereits im Jahr 2009 alles wieder nachhaltig zum besseren wenden wird......

Biggest Creditor
Lyondell’s largest unsecured creditor is the Bank of New York Mellon Corp., as trustee for $615 million in unsecured notes, as well as $241.4 million in unsecured notes in affiliate Millennium America Inc., according to the court filing. LyondellBasell is saddled with $26 billion in debt. Its largest lenders include Merrill Lynch & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc.

Standard & Poor’s predicted “substantial principal losses for some creditors” of LyondellBasell, analysts led by Frankfurt-based Tobias Mock wrote in a Dec. 30 report.

Petroleos De Venezuela, the Venezuelan state-owned oil company was listed as a third-largest unsecured creditor, with $233.6 million in trade debt.

Lyondell’s Houston Refining unit imported an average of 198,000 barrels a day of crude oil from Venezuela in the first nine months of last year, according to U.S. Energy Department data. The refinery has a contract to buy 230,000 barrels a day of oil from Petroleos de Venezuela, according to a Nov. 13 securities filing. PDVSA, as the company is known, didn’t return a call seeking comment yesterday.

BASF Claim
BASF Corp., based in Florham Park, New Jersey, may have a claim worth $206.4 million under a judgment against the company which is “contingent and disputed,” according to court documents. The company is a unit of BASF SE, the world’s largest chemical producer, based in Ludwigshafen, Germany.

Apollo Management LP, the private-equity firm led by Leon Black, is among Lyondell Chemical’s largest creditors, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

Apollo, based in New York, is a member of a lending group providing so-called debtor-in-possession financing to fund Lyondell’s operations, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because Apollo’s stake hasn’t been disclosed. Steven Anreder, a spokesman for Apollo, declined to comment. Lyondell spokeswoman Susan Moore didn’t return phone calls seeking comment.

Access Industries ( which owns LyondellBasell ) agreed to provide $750 million of the $3.25 billion in loans to fund Lyondell Chemical’s operations during bankruptcy, Access said in a statement distributed by PR Newswire.

Goldman Sachs, Merrill, Citigroup and other banks arranged the financing, which includes $12.5 billion of first-lien bank loans, $5.5 billion of second-lien notes and loans and $2.5 billion of third-lien notes and loans, according to S&P.

> This "so-called debtor-in-possession financing" from Apollo & Co is more like a doubling down......

> Dieses sogenannte "debtor-in-possession financing" von Apollo & Co. ist in Wirklichkeit ein verzweifelter Versuch vom vorherigen Investment überhaupt noch was zu retten......

Bloomberg

Apollo, TPG Inc. and Blackstone Group LP’s GSO Capital Partners were among buyout firms that bought high-yield, high- risk debt last year at discounted prices. The average high-yield loan price fell 28 cents on the dollar last year to 66.6 cents, according to Standard & Poor’s LCD, as Wall Street firms whittled down $230 billion of loans they’d promised to private-equity firms to fund takeovers before credit markets seized up.

“Apollo may be trying to protect an earlier error in judgment with Lyondell,” said Jonathan Macey, a law professor at Yale University. He said Apollo may be trying to avoid deeper losses by providing bankruptcy financing.

Apollo bought Lyondell bank loans from Citigroup in April, bankers familiar with the sale said at the time. Citigroup sold about $1.9 billion of the debt, about a fifth of a $9.45 billion term loan, according to a CreditSights Inc. report on April 29. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and the other banks that held the loans offered to sell the debt above 90 cents on the dollar in May, according to a Standard & Poor’s LCD report that month.

> On top of this it wouldn´t surprise me if any of the loans Citi managed to unload are heavily financed through Citi aka the taxpayer..... Wouldn´t be the first time.... ( see UFOs (or Unidentified Financing Objects) & No Kidding.... More Off Balance Sheet Vehicles For Citigroup , & Banks use discounts to tempt ‘vulture funds’ )...... I think this quote “Most of the leverage being provided by banks is only being provided if you buy their loans” sums it up......

> Darüberhinaus würde es mich nicht wundern wenn von den Krediten die losgeschlagen werden konnten die Finanzierung vom selben Haus ( also in diesem Fall Citi oder besser dem US Steuerzahler) bereitgestellt worden ist..... Wäre ja nichts neues.... ( siehe UFOs (or Unidentified Financing Objects) & No Kidding.... More Off Balance Sheet Vehicles For Citigroup & Banks use discounts to tempt ‘vulture funds’ ) ....... Ich denke dieses Zitat “Most of the leverage being provided by banks is only being provided if you buy their loans” spricht Bände.....

$12.7 Billion Merger
LyondellBasell said Dec. 31 that it was considering alternatives, including a Chapter 11 filing, to restructure debt that financed its $12.7 billion merger a year ago.

Lyondell Chemical Worldwide’s 10.25 percent notes due 2010 most recently traded at 16 cents on the dollar yesterday, according to Trace. The Lyondell Chemical unit’s 9.8 percent notes due 2020 traded at 22 cents on the dollar. No quote was available for the 8.375 percent notes due 2015.

Blavatnik’s Stake
Lyondell Chemical is partly owned by Access Industries Holdings LLC in New York, founded by billionaire Len Blavatnik.

LyondellBasell was created in December 2007 by the $12.7 billion acquisition of Lyondell Chemical and affiliate Equistar Chemicals LP by Dutch chemicals company Basell AF SCA. The combination created one of the world’s largest independent chemical producers with 16,000 employees and pro-forma sales of $54.6 billion in the year through September, according to its Web site.

UPDATE on "Mark-To-Market" from leveraged loans.....

Citigroup Cites $2 Billion in Exposure to Lyondell

The exposure, as of Dec. 31, is primarily in Citi's institutional-clients group. The exposure consists of three loans having an original value exceeding $2 billion. Citigroup sold a chunk of the loans last year to private-equity firm Apollo anagement LP and recorded write-downs on the value of the remainder over the course of 2008. That left Citigroup with a marked-down exposure of $2 billion.

Citigroup now is taking a conservative approach by adding $1.4 billion to its loan-loss reserves. That amount assumes Citigroup won't recover any of the loans as LyondellBasell's bankruptcy proceeds.

> Needless to say that i think this kind of high marks on troubled loans is not only common from our old frined Citi.....

> Überflüssig zu erwähnen das ich annehme das diese Art der Kreditbewertung eher die Regel als die Ausnahme ist......