A guide to our acquisition finance resources. Acquisition finance covers a broad range of financing structures where an existing company or special purpose vehicle (SPV) purchases all, or some of, the assets or shares of a public or private target company. Examples of deals involving acquisition finance include leveraged buyouts (LBOs), institutional buyouts (IBOs), management buyouts (MBOs), management buy-ins (MBIs) and corporate acquisitions (that is, debt-financed acquisitions made by trade buyers rather than management or a private equity firm).
Scope of this note
This note acts as a guide to our resources on acquisition finance. Acquisition finance covers a broad range of financing structures where an existing company or special purpose vehicle (SPV) purchases all, or some of, the assets or shares of a public or private target company. Examples of deals involving acquisition finance include leveraged buyouts and corporate acquisitions (that is, debt-financed acquisitions made by trade buyers rather than management or a private equity firm).
For a note about unitranche loans, describing their key characteristics and advantages for borrowers, see Practice note, Unitranche financing.
High yield debt
For a note on raising debt finance by issuing high yield bonds, including an explanation of key structuring issues and typical high yield bond covenants, see Practice note, High yield bonds.
Distressed debt trading and debt buy-backs in acquisition finance
Debt buy-backs can occur in an acquisition finance context. As a result of the financial crisis in 2008 following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, for example, certain private equity providers started buying back debt in companies they owned. For a guide to our distressed debt trading and debt buy-back resources, see Practice note, A guide to key resources: general lending: Distressed debt trading and debt buy-backs.
For a note outlining the major tax issues that arise when structuring the sale of a company's share capital (the note assumes that the target company is resident and incorporated in the UK and deals mainly with the position of UK resident shareholders), see Practice note, Share purchases: tax overview.
For a note providing an overview of the main tax issues that arise in private equity transactions (including the taxation of private equity funds and executives), see Practice note, Private equity: tax overview.
Legal opinions in acquisition finance transactions
For a practical analysis of the mechanics of signing and closing and key provisions of opinion letters in cross-border acquisitions, see Signing, Closing, and Opinions Toolkit (International). Although the note focuses on cross-border acquisitions many of the topics covered are relevant to the financing aspects of this type of transaction.
Links to Practical Law's resources on acquisition finance and related Practical Law services
Practical Law Finance resources on acquisition finance
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