CEE Congress: regional banks lose ground to debt funds

Just 32% of respondents to the survey say regional banks will be the main source of leverage for deals in the region, compared to almost half a year ago. National and local banks are also expected to be less involved in providing leverage, with 21% claiming they will be the main source of finance this year, down from 29% in 2011.

However, specialist debt funds are expected to take advantage, with the proportion of respondents expecting them to be major debt providers more than doubling from 19% at last year's congress to more than 40% this year.

The forecast decline in bank lending will also lead to rising debt-to-EBITDA multiples, according to those surveyed. In 2011, no respondents expected ratios of more than 8x, while in 2012 around 18% believe CEE will see debt multiples rising to these levels. This is coupled with falling expectations of small multiples (in the 2x-3.9x range), with the proportion forecasting average debt multiples in the range falling by half to 14%.

unquote" wishes to thank SJ Berwin, IPES, CSOB, Ernst & Young for sponsoring the event.

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• Topics
• CEE
• Financing