Headline: Can new funds sustain Europe’s LBO boom? Source: Euromoney Date: August 2001 Author: Charles Olivier The European leveraged buy-out market appears to have found its feet again after a nervous first quarter. But banks remain cautious about lending to highly geared deals. Can institutional investors such as collateralized debt obligation funds fill the gap?
The ability of private-equity investors to raise the debt they need to finance buy-outs is currently being tested by Merrill Lynch and CIBC who are arranging the £2.1 billion ($2.9 billion) financing of Yell, the yellow pages publishing company bought from British Telecom by Apax Partners and Hicks Muse Tate & Furst earlier this year. |