
Syndication woes spell trouble for German buyouts

At a time when many GPs have finished divesting their vintage portfolios and are looking for fresh investments, the German leverage market is experiencing difficulties with loan syndication, threatening future buyouts. Diana Petrowicz investigates
The number of buyouts in Germany is on the increase and headline deals like the secondary buyout of Jack Wolfskin have raised hopes the market has returned to its former health. However, a new threat has raised its head, as leverage markets are once again thrown into turmoil.
Thorsten Gladiator, head of leveraged finance origination Germany at Commerzbank corporate and markets explains that, "German financing structures and terms are a little bit more conservative given the midcap nature of the current German LBO market because syndication here is, to some extent, more focused on banks. There is less demand right now from institutional investors for small and midcap deals."
The highly leveraged buyout of Jack Wolfskin, valued at €700m including a debt structure of €500m demonstrates some of the current difficulties in the debt market. Debt providers Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS and IKB have faced difficulties in selling on the senior leverage facility and were forced to add a €70m second lien loan tranche with an interest rate of 9.5% in order to raise the market's appetite.
Aside from uncertainties around the economic climate, Gladiator points out that there are a number of other reasons for the deterioration of the debt market and the decrease in liquidity from institutional investors.
"Due to supply and demand imbalances in the first and at the beginning of the second quarter, it was easier to arrange deals structured to meet the demand of institutional investors. Right now, the situation has turned and most of the liquidity that these funds had has been spent and there is little new liquidity for them," he says.
This means deals must be structured with banks in mind rather than institutional investors. This is likely to lead to far less aggressive deal activity in the second half of 2011.
So far this year Germany has seen roughly €4bn worth of LBO loans and Gladiator believes this will fall in H2. However, he is positive that, although the second half of 2011 will be weaker than the first half, it will still be far stronger than last year.
Latest News
Stonehage Fleming raises USD 130m for largest fund to date, eyes 2024 programme
Multi-family office has seen strong appetite, with investor base growing since 2016 to more than 90 family offices, Meiping Yap told Unquote
Permira to take Ergomed private for GBP 703m
Sponsor deploys Permira VIII to ride new wave of take-privates; Blackstone commits GBP 200m in financing for UK-based CRO
Partners Group to release IMs for Civica sale in mid-September
Sponsor acquired the public software group in July 2017 via the same-year vintage Partners Group Global Value 2017
Change of mind: Sponsors take to de-listing their own assets
EQT and Cinven seen as bellweather for funds to reassess options for listed assets trading underwater