A Primer on Distressed Debt Investing

Abstract

The category of distressed debt is demarcated by a company in some sort of financial difficulty and bonds priced well below face value. LBO firms are frequent providers of distressed debt, and as their highly leveraged operations miss projected returns, there is usually scant wiggle room. Patterns and approaches to this type of investing are analyzed using several actual cases, such as Regal Cinemas, Inc. (the largest U.S. theater chain), Vlasic Foods International, Inc., Federated Departments Stores, Montgomery Ward & Co., Iridium, LLC, and others.