A Primer on Distressed Investing: Buying Companies by Acquiring Their Debt

• Published in: Journal of Applied Corporate Finance Vol. 24; no. 4; pp. 59 - 76
• Main Authors: Moyer, Stephen G., Martin, David, Martin, John
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-12-2012
• ISSN: 1078-1196; 1936-8216; 1745-6622
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-6622.2012.00401.x

Distress or vulture investing requires a high level of business acumen combined with deep knowledge of accounting, finance, and corporate and restructuring law. In this paper, the authors provide a pedagogical discussion of an important—and socially beneficial—kind of vulture investing through which creditors often gain control of distressed companies. Such investing requires intensive information gathering and active participation by the investor, in contrast to most passive investing in publicly traded securities, as the investor seeks control over the distressed firm's equity. The process is made more risky and difficult by the many conflicting interests of creditors and equity holders who work throughout the process to protect their individual interests. The authors provide a detailed discussion of such conflicts and how restructuring practitioners seek to manage them.