LBO club: trouble in leveraged land

The leveraged buyout club’s chummy days may be over. Not long ago, the US government was probing private equity firms for acting too clubby. As the brewing battle over Clear Channel’s proposed $2.5bn debt exchange suggests, however, it could soon be more like open warfare in the land of the barbarians. Some private equity firms are trying to salvage over-leveraged companies acquired during the boom by asking debt investors to exchange their existing holdings for other kinds of debt that may be ...