Distressed debt in Germany: What's next? Possible innovative exit strategies

Abstract

During the past two years, private equity funds have acquired substantial portfolios of nonperforming loans from banks in Germany. Typically a private equity investor does not commit funds unless exit strategies are clearly defined. The usual exit strategies for distressed debt investors are fix it (restructuring and turnaround), sell it (sale of debt or equity), or shut it down (liquidation). A new alternative exit strategy for NPL investors considered here is the transfer of credit recovery risk