Distressed M&A

A couple of simple questions regarding Distressed M&A:

  1. Is Distressed M&A more of an M&A-based situation or a Restructuring-based situation?

  2. As I understand so far, RX will result in 1 of 3 scenarios:

  • Fix the company on an operational/organizational level

  • File for Ch.7 Bankruptcy and liquidate assets

  • Sell the company

Is this correct?

  1. Finally, which types of banks participate in Distressed M&A? I'm assuming it's typically the Elite Boutiques but do Bulge Brackets tend to not work on Distressed M&A projects because they can be the creditors of the distressed company?

Any help would be appreciated.

8 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Distressed M&A is absolutely a thing, and happens all the time — case in point, Barney’s was just sold (for scraps) in an auction after declaring in August. Bankrupt companies also sell assets all the time through the Section 363 process, and banks such as PJT, HL (which wrote an entire primer on distressed M&A), Evercore, etc. will be retained to advise them. As OP mentioned, bulge brackets often can’t advise distressed companies on sale processes due to conflicts of interest — it is mainly the RX arms of boutiques that tend to advise on these deals, often working with M&A and specific coverage groups at these same boutiques.

 

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