Article Macquarie sells Slater & Gordon debt

Well, this should send shivers down the spine of many, yet another big boy selling their debt, some will find a possitive spin of course.

Macquarie Group has sold its $20 million exposure to Slater & Gordon's debt stack, sources told Street Talk on Tuesday.

It's understood Deutsche Bank was one of the buyers at about 45¢ in the dollar.

Macquarie [like Citigroup which has also jettisoned its debt] was one of the key lenders and advisers to Slater & Gordon on its disastrous purchase of UK group Quindell's professional services business in March 2015, of which $879 million of the value was written off within 12 months.  

The failed United Kingdom foray has left Slater & Gordon with $682 million of net debt, and a market capitalisation of $111 million at last close.


This latest trade comes after Street Talk first reported on November 7 that Citi had offloaded its Slater's exposure at just 38¢ in the dollar to an unnamed syndicate.  


It has since emerged New York-based Anchorage Capital Group was one of the members of that syndicate and now holds a portion of the ambulance-chasing firm's debt stack.

The law firm's two largest lenders are National Australia Bank and Westpac and disclosures suggested that both lenders had made significant provisions against their exposures.

Macquarie was the other major lender in the syndicate, along with Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, according to reports at the time of the debt raising. Citi and Macquarie led the $890 million capital raising in April 2015 to finance the Quindell acquisition.