Where’s the Mezz?

Source: MergersUnleashed

The mezzanine market, armed with billions of dollars, still needs the senior lenders to show signs of life before it can resume its renaissance

By DANIELLE FUGAZY
January 21, 2009

Last year, more than $25 billion was raised by roughly 30 mezzanine providers, according to data from Thomson Reuters. While other lending sources have effectively dried up amid the credit crisis, one would think the mezzanine market would be enjoying a renaissance as one of the few financing options still available. Such a scenario, however, has yet to materialize.

“Very few private equity firms will do a mezz and equity deal; they want senior lending,” says Andy Steuerman, a senior managing director with Golub Capital. “If you can’t get the senior lenders interested, then you have no transaction. That is the situation today.”

Another factor is, quite simply, that the deal market has effectively stalled. Economic uncertainty, on top of the credit woes, has both buyers and sellers retreating to the sidelines until more clarity emerges. For the most part, the only deals being pursued are the transactions that are absolutely necessary for a company’s survival. “We are telling our clients to hang on, now is not the time to sell,” says one banker, speaking anonymously. That in turn keeps the private equity market stagnant, which effectively idles the mezzanine providers, even if they’re armed with billions dollars worth of dry powder.

For the few deals that are out there, another factor is limiting the appeal of mezz financing; namely its price. The mezz market has become costly, almost to the point that it rivals the equity portion of the deal. Read more.

Edge - Chaparral Merger A No-Go

The all cash transaction was cancelled as a result of the lack of debt and equity financing.

Dec 17, 2008 - Mergers Unleased - By AVRAM DAVIS - Edge Petroleum and Chaparral Energy have terminated the all-stock merger, due to lack of debt and equity financing. Chaparral was to acquire Edge, with Edge stockholders receiving 0.2511 shares of Chaparral for each share of Edge stock. Edge and Chaparral are both oil and natural gas companies, based in Houston, Texas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma respectively.

The companies cancelled the transaction as it became apparent that it was “highly unlikely” that the conditions necessary for the deal to close would be satisfied. It was necessary for the conditions of the merger agreement to be met by December 31, 2008, and the companies were not able to raise sufficient debt and equity financing. Read more.

The M&A Slowdown by the Numbers–The Case of the Missing Fees

11 Dec 2008 - Deal Journal - “M&A is all but dead.”

That was the pronouncement from Deal Journal colleague Matthew Karnitschnig this morning.

Global deal volume fell to $262 billion last month, according to Dealogic. While low, that number is nothing to sneeze at. But exclude the spate of government investments last month and the total tumbles to levels not seen since 2003. For those who have tried hard to forget those barren years, global deal volume reached $1.4 trillion that year and the value of only eight deals topped $10 billion. Now compare that with last year, when $4.5 trillion of deals were announced and more than 30 deals topped $10 billion.

Perhaps more importantly, the value of withdrawn deals is higher than the value of announced deals, Karnitschnig points out. And that fact is hitting investment bank where they don’t want to get hit–in their wallets.
Read more.

Morgan Stanley M&A Chief McDonald Dies

Dec. 8 - LONDON (Reuters) - Gavin MacDonald, the head of mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley, has died. He was 47.

MacDonald died on Friday evening, after suffering a heart attack at Morgan Stanley’s offices in Canary Wharf, London, earlier last week, Morgan Stanley spokesman Michael Wang said.

A founding member of Morgan Stanley’s European M&A team, MacDonald had worked on a string of multi-billion dollar deals, and became global head of M&A in 2007 — the first London-based banker to hold that role for the Wall Street firm. Read more.

William Blair & Co. to cut staff

4 Dec 2008 - Chicago Business (Crain’s) — Investment firm William Blair & Co. said Thursday it's cutting staff in an effort to combat declining business during the economic slowdown.

The Chicago-based company said it is laying off less than 10% of its 1,000 employees, according to the Chicago Tribune. Read more.

Credit crunch may fuel oil and gas M&A

4 Dec 2008 - TheDeal.com - Nearly three-quarters of oil and gas CFOs polled in a recent survey said they expect the U.S. economic crisis to impact their ability to borrow money or extend bank debt in 2009. In addition, well over half the 100 executives surveyed by the accounting firm BDO Seidman LLP in October and November said that credit capacity restraints, including access to capital, will be their greatest challenge next year, followed by falling oil or natural gas prices. "They feel gravely concerned about raising money," said Charles Dewhurst, a partner at the firm and leader of its national energy practice in Houston.

Dewhurst says the credit drain may lead more companies to consider buyouts or bankruptcy as a solution. "With less credit and lower prices, smaller E&P [exploration and production] companies are going to be attractive acquisition targets for larger companies, and because of debt constraints, many are going to feel compelled to sell," he said.

Companies that put together projects and borrowed money based on $150 barrel oil will be most vulnerable. Read more.

Tech Giants Still Seek Acquisitions–At the Right Price

3 Dec - Deal Journal - Deep-pocketed technology giants such as Microsoft and Google plan to continue snapping up companies during the economic downturn, likely benefiting from an ability to drive a hard bargain with even red-hot start-up companies, according to executives speaking at a venture capital conference Tuesday.

At issue is the fairly nebulous way that Silicon Valley’s closely-held start-up companies calculate their own values, absent the input of a larger group of investors in a public market. In more flush times, even small companies with relatively undeveloped businesses often commanded high acquisition prices.

Those days are over, executives said during a presentation at the AlwaysOn Venture Summit. Microsoft Corporate Vice President Dan’l Lewin said that while the Redmond, Wash., software giant’s appetite for acquisitions hasn’t waned, its willingness to entertain high valuations has. “The negotiations on valuation might be difficult, but we’re not going to stay away because of the economic climate,” Lewin said.

Read more.

JPMorgan Plans 3,000 I-Banking Job Cuts

Nov. 21 - PEHUB - NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co is cutting 10 percent of its investment banking staff — about 3,000 jobs — as the economic slowdown starts to bite into its earnings, people familiar with the situation said on Thursday.

JPMorgan shares slid as much as 18 percent as one analyst said the cuts could reflect greater-than-expected weakness at the bank, long seen as one of the industry’s few stalwarts through the credit crisis.

“Because JPMorgan has held up relative to the group, they’re more vulnerable to a fall,” said Ben Wallace, securities analyst at Grimes & Co in Westborough, Massachusetts, which holds JPMorgan shares.

“Cutting investment banking jobs raises questions about profitability at the firm,” he said.

The company will likely cut staff in line with competitors such as Goldman Sachs Group, which is cutting 10 percent, the sources said.

On Thursday, JPMorgan let go at least six equity sales officials from its New York desk, according to one person familiar with the matter. Read more.