Can new funds sustain Europe’s LBO boom?

Syndicated loan desks have made hundreds of millions of dollars from financing leveraged buy-outs (LBOs) over the past six years. But slowing growth in Europe and the US has made lenders nervous about the ability of LBO sponsors to service their loans. And the high-yield bond market – on which many LBOs rely for long-dated debt – is in turmoil following a series of defaults by telecom companies such as Winstar Communications.