Credit Suisse has announced the formation of a new group within its EMEA Global Markets Solutions business (GMSB) designed to address what co-head of global investment banking Jim Amine describes as a “unique opportunity” presented by the current debt market dislocation. In an internal memo sent to CS employees last Friday, Amine explained that the new Debt Advisory and Restructuring group (DA&R) will enable the bank to provide an integrated solution to challenging market conditions.
The DA&R group has been formed to provide debt workout solutions (from simple consents and amendments to full scale restructurings) and to advise healthy companies facing acquisition and other financing requirements and capital structure management issues. It will be jointly led by Marisa Drew and Craig Klaasmeyer, co-heads of debt advisory, and the group in turn will again report into Marisa Drew and Thibaut de Gaudemar in their capacities as co-heads of GMSG in EMEA. Chairman of the group will be Bob Willoughby, currently head of underwriting and capital commitments for EMEA credit risk management.
In a sign of the importance that debt restructuring will assume, the new DA&R group will also be responsible for all leveraged finance and senior loan origination activities at CS for the region. Having been a major force in European leveraged finance during the LBO boom, CS is clearly positioning itself to be a major force in the restructuring and workout boom that will surely follow. “I am confident that the Debt Finance (sic) and Restructuring group will best leverage our strengths and capture this important market opportunity,” Amine stated in the memo.
