Kaupthing/Flowers: Mind the thorns

Buyers should tread carefully going shopping in a credit crunch. Especially when the seller is Christopher Flowers, who has made several fortunes milking distressed debt. On that basis, Kaupthing, the Icelandic bank, appears to be taking a big risk buying Flowers’ Dutch merchant bank, NIBC Holding for E3bn. At least the Icelanders have kept taken some precautions to ensure they won’t be the only losers if things go bad. In many ways, buying NIBC is a dream for Kaupthing’s chairman, Sigurdur Ein...