What do restructuring bankers do in London....

.......thats so different to those in Big 4 restructuring?

Now bear with me for a second, this is a serious question.

It may be different in the states but it seems in the UK the big 4 get some of the biggest bankruptcy/insolvency cases.

PwC got Lehman and EY got Nortel for instance. So what would be the difference between the work done in lets say Lazard or HL London versus a big 4 firm?

The pay is obviously substantially different but I cant figure out what the banks offer that Big 4 dont.

Any takers?

9 Comments
 

In investment banking, restructuring can refer to any corporate decision that alter the capital structure or corporate organization. Some examples would be M&A, spin-offs, equity carve outs, leveraged recapitalizations, etc. Usually, investment banks are giving advice to the company regarding what options they have and what effects each restructuring alternative would lead to (which involves extensive modeling and experience with how the markets would react).

Obviously this is very different from the bankruptcy/insolvency accounting work that Big 4 restructuring does.

 

For example on the Monier restructuring HL London advised the majority creditors (Apollo, Towerbrook, York) who had brought in at 35% of face value on loan-to-own procedures. Ultimately taking control, forcing the PE firm (PAI) to write off EUR 256m of equity, pushing the remaining consenting senior lenders into 37% senior, 17% PIK, 45% equity / PPL.

Now Monier trades at roughly 95. So sick!!!

While we're on London restructuring, advice / direction of decent boutiques would be very much appreciated (looking to break in).

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 
awpDC advisory comes to mind.. great boutique, solid exit opps (Blackstone and the like)

Yea apparently (before my time) they had a sick rep under the name Close Bros, then Daiwa tainted them somewhat. Word says they've brought on some MDs recently, with expected expansion underneath, fingers crossed.

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

In the UK/Europe/Canada the gap between Big 4 and banking/consulting is narrower and in fact accounting firms are often placed as trustees for bankruptcies. SOX and other independence requirements/liability concerns prevent the Big 4 "restructuring" and "M&A" groups from doing much actual transaction advisory. The restructuring group where I worked was concerned largely with tax and accounting implications of bankruptcy/spinout/etc.

There have been many great comebacks throughout history. Jesus was dead but then came back as an all-powerful God-Zombie.
 
Best Response

Very true Kenny Powers.....restructuring work seems completely different in UK v US.

In the UK a Big 4 firm will actually take control of the assets of a bankrupt/insolvent entity and figure out the best way to achieve value...in some cases this could be selling the business or it could be selling certain assets of the business or in a lot of cases trading the business for years and trying to make it profitable before selling it.

It should be noted that big 4 also provide advisory services to firms advising on capital structure and how to get out of difficulty....I just cant really understand the seemingly massive disconnect between big 4 fee's/salaries and those in banks in the restructuring space (makes more sens elsewhere like M&A).

 

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