Conflict of Interest in Investment Banking
February 12, 2025
What Are Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)? Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were a part of the monetary system that was created post World War-2 in the Bretton Woods arrangement. Since the United States had almost all of the gold reserves of the world at that time, the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were intended as a supra-national […]
Just like mergers and acquisitions, modeling for leveraged buyouts (LBOs) also requires special skill and knowledge. In this article, we will have a closer look at how leveraged buyouts work as well as how financial modeling techniques need to be adopted to meet the needs of investors indulging in LBO’s. What is a Leveraged Buyout? […]
The Mississippi bubble is one of the biggest asset bubbles known to the modern world. This bubble first led France out of bankruptcy and straight into prosperity. Then this same bubble caused the opposite to happen, bankrupted France and gave an impetus to the revolution. This bubble was created when John Law, a renegade Scotsman […]
For any startup financing to be successful, the startup company and the investors need to be on the same page about a lot of issues. This is because, in the absence of this understanding, valuation divergence can be a quagmire of ever-escalating tensions between the two parties. One major source of conflict between these two […]
The Finance Function and the Project Office Contemporary organizations need to practice cost control if they are to survive the recessionary times. Given the fact that many top tier companies are currently mired in low growth and less activity situations, it is imperative that they control their costs as much as possible. This can happen […]
Anyone working in the investment banking industry for a few years has definitely come across the term “leveraged buyouts.” It creates huge risks, as well as investment opportunities. Over the years, many investment banks have been involved in financing several big-ticket leveraged buyouts.
In this article, we will explain in detail what a leveraged buyout is, and the role played by investment banks in enabling leveraged buyouts.
In simple words, a leveraged buyout is a company buying another company (which may be several times bigger than itself) using a lot of borrowed money. We know the meaning of the word “buyout.” The usage of the word leveraged hints at the use of other people’s money. In simple words, if a company worth $10 million is purchasing a company worth $40 million using a lot of debt, then it can be called a leveraged buyout.
Now, the question arises about how can a company worth $10 million ever raise the $40 million required to buy the bigger company! This is where the investment bankers come in. They have created a different kind of business model for leveraged buyouts in which the money lent to the buyer is secured by the assets of the target company. Therefore, once the acquisition goes through, the assets of the $40 million company will be held as collateral until the debt is repaid.
It is easy to see why many companies like leveraged buyouts. If they do well, they earn a handsome return on their investment. However, if they don’t do well, then the loss is borne by the acquired company since its assets have been used as collateral.
Investment bankers are the experts in raising capital, and a leveraged buyout involves the usage of large amounts of capital. Hence, they have a very important role to play. The details of the role have been mentioned below:
Every investment banker cannot pull off a leveraged buyout deal. It requires a certain amount of skill as well as expertise to do so. This is because most of the bonds issued as a result of leveraged buyouts are junk-rated. This means that the investors will not be easily willing to purchase them and may also ask for a higher interest rate. Seasoned investment bankers have deeply entrenched distribution networks which they leverage to sell these bonds.
To sum it up, leveraged buyouts are a specialized field in investment banking. Over the years, such transactions have turned out to be money-spinners for investment banks. However, investment bankers are required to have an excellent network to pull it off.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *