Deals of the year 2002: Bear market courage

Bear markets breed their own types of deals - balance sheet repair, restructuring, liability management, monetization of illiquid assets, securitization, opportunistic acquisitions. The pace and intensity of such deals may vary between the long hard slog and sudden bursts of activity, but companies and bankers that do well in them tend to share certain characteristics: a refusal to accept defeat, creativity that may be inspired by desperation, and a determination to deal with complexity and hold their nerve. Banks must sometimes underwrite risks they would rather not take, just to complete deals.