Rx Slowdown? Outlook?
I work at a top Rx shop, and things have been pretty slow. My hours have been as low as 20 hours of actual work and maybe as high as 60-70 hours so far this year. I have probably worked 40-50 hours on average the last couple months. It's been really nice after grinding through 2020
I know others in my group are still working 80+ hours, and we have had some pitch work, so I understand that this might not be the case for some people
Wanted to see (1) how other people are doing and (2) what are people's thoughts on Rx for the rest of the year
Following
I’m guessing evercore?
RX consultant here. Pretty much mostly been pitching. A few Rx jobs but not enough to keep everyone busy.
Everyone loaded up on covid 19 covent holidays, amend and extends, gov support bux etc. Bit ridiculous really. Treating this year as a wash as well and hoping for busy 2022!
College student here looking to learn more about RX Consulting. Any chance I can send you a message?
you can ask your questions here and ill try to answer.
as a starting point please do read the following helpful threads incase they already answer your questions:
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/top-5-restructuring-consulting-f…
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/qa-restructuring-consulting
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/alvarez-and-marsal-restructuring…
Do you expect lower internship return rate at places like PJT/HL/EVR in RX?
At the analyst level, I'd doubt it
Thanks
Not to sound too alarmist, but RX just isn't really in a great spot right now. You've probably run the screens and have seen that there just aren't a lot of companies with catalysts in the next year and a half. Almost everyone is sitting on a ton of cash and has been able to refi out their capital structures to deal with their near-term maturities. As a result, there just isn't a lot to do at the moment, and that seems unlikely to change for a while.
Yup, very similar perspective at one of the EBs. Been very slow and not much on the horizon except for some one-offs
Same here. Been doing more debt advisory / bespoke financing work to fill the void but capital availability has definitely pushed out regular way restructuring transactions. We were working on an A&E + new money sponsor investment and the bank group eventually came to terms without outside capital.
Last year+ has been a crazy time to be in restructuring. Have seen historic peaks in filings and distress and then now unparalleled capital availability. Honestly a welcome change for a 2nd year analyst but to the 1st years and incomings who may be antsy: don’t stress, there is 100% more cycles to come and likely a super cycle in the near future. All of the rescue capital that came in to bail out companies post covid haven’t fixed the problem, just kicked the can out longer. Embrace the unconventional liability management work that you’ll see until then bc that’s equally constructive to your experience / future career in PE or banking.
Did you mean to say we haven’t seen a historic peak in filings? Last year was an extreme outlier, as bankruptcy filings have actually been trending significantly lower last year and this year relative to the last couple decades.
That being said, this is all about to change sooner than most think. The next 3-5 years will be extremely busy in the Rx space.
Why would you say its about to change over the next 3 - 5 years? Is it because companies just pushed their problems down the road 2 - 4 years? Or is there a more specific catalyst you're looking at
Ah yes, me, when I was gullible sophomore in college a few years back: you know interest rates are low, cheap capital has flowed in, but I think there are a lot of catalysts on the horizon for a market correction leading to more restructuring. The associate interviewing me: you know, I said the same thing x years ago when I was coming out of school...
lmao people been saying this since i graduated in 2013. brooo distressed cycle coming broooo, they just kicked the can brooo. lol the days of distressed being a hot area have long passed homie
@plskystks - that's a pretty ignorant statement to make. First of all, the distress space has plenty of activity every year (just a matter of the magnitude of work during extreme economic downturns being favorable within this niche practice). I think you may also need to educate yourself on distressed debt investing (guessing you focus on investing in stable, healthy companies generating positive cash flow at the time you first review the opportunity only). It's a highly lucrative arena to be in depending on the fund's investment strategy, with MANY opportunities available to target.
Honest question how is liability management relevant to PE? I work in a team that does some of that occasionally but doesn’t really seem to sharpen your investor / M&A skill set.
Most liability management exercises are undertaken by PE firms either as loss mitigation or discount capture to drive equity returns. Its a big tool in their toolkit for portfolio companies
long term view is that it won't be amazing—Rx spiked due to covid and now that we're almost over the hump, turnarounds are still out there, just far fewer
Which year do you think it will come back?
Worst time to be in RX right now by far. At a good Rx group (HL/Gugg/Mill) and been doing nothing
so not HL
OP here. Hoping to turn this into a more meaningful discussion so bear with me.
Fed-backed asset purchases, increased access to capital markets, etc. are keeping bond prices afloat, and investors are turning to riskier assets / yield. A Reorg survey from earlier in the year highlighted a relative shift in pricing - 90's becoming the new 80's for bonds. There's a lot of noise to look through. I think as we approach a near level of pre-Covid recovery, those businesses that have weaker business fundamentals (whether that be from Covid-driven acceleration / adoption or the business was underperforming prior to the pandemic - physical retail, legacy technology and media, etc.) will begin to show signs of underperformance relative to its peers and to economic recovery. There could be a normalization of bond prices or price discovery from the realization of underlying business deterioration and/or a shift in investor appetite and risk aversion. I think it'll be interesting to see how many Rx's will resurface from those that have already reorganized but cannot meet performance hurdles, newly negotiated debt indentures and credit agreements, etc.
Many believe there will be an uptick in activity in 2H21. What do people think about the above rationale? What do people think will be likely catalysts for an uptick in activity (Covid, rolloff of government aid to households and businesses, unexpected rise in inflation, etc.)? What are some industries that are still very much vulnerable and why?
I'd tend to agree with that. Issue with the COVID downturn is that it wasn't caused by the business cycle, it was purely event driven by lockdowns. So all the companies/industries that were already over-levered and struggling were just able to get help from the government are still in deep trouble whenever (if) the Fed starts to raise rates or general interest rates start to go up again.
As for specific industries, I think the oil/gas companies will remain in a tough spot.
These are good points, but all of these sketchy companies have been able to push out maturities and build cash/liquidity. It seems hard to believe that we're going to see an uptick in activity this year when all of the catalysts have been pushed out.
Will second everyone here and say that things have slowed since January of this year. Most of us are working on legacy deals expected to close sometime this year. Only a couple new MM level bankruptcies and distress situations. That being said I think we’re all expecting things to ramp up by Labor Day. I for one am happy I get to enjoy the impending spring and summer
Yeah but the legacy deals are still churning out 120 hour weeks on a regular basis for some of us, really think OP is painting too broad of a stroke
Deleniti sed veritatis alias quis qui itaque culpa. Itaque qui perferendis alias repellat. Dolore sed fugit recusandae numquam. Qui quam ratione repellat repudiandae adipisci placeat animi. Reprehenderit modi consequatur nam et voluptatibus fugiat. Et ut repudiandae vel ratione illum. Temporibus provident voluptas quo asperiores et omnis.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Amet voluptatem aut sed fugiat aut a aut. Sit qui velit voluptas quo et natus nemo autem. Velit commodi distinctio alias et repudiandae. Consequatur beatae hic qui. Temporibus et velit repellat asperiores. Ea itaque accusantium cupiditate.