Schuldschein loans have been in the news recently. Historically Schuldschein loans were predominantly borrowed from German lenders by German companies with a strong credit profile who accessed the private market for these German law governed loans. In the last few years the market has internationalised significantly, with non-German borrowers and lenders entering the market for this form of financing. Some reports suggest that, since the financial crisis, the percentage of non-German borrowers in the market has grown from less than 20% to nearly 50%. High profile non-German groups whose Schuldschein loans have come to light in distressed circumstances include Premier Oil, Steinhoff and, most recently, Carillion.
This memorandum takes a look in detail at how the presence of Schuldschein loans in the debt stack of a non-German group may affect the restructuring of the debt of that group.
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