Banks are usually upset when large leveraged buyouts fall apart because of the hefty fees they generate. But Elon Musk’s decision toCredit markets have tumbled since banks first agreed to raise $13-billion tothe deal in April. The riskiest piece of the debt package alone would have caused losses of between $150-million and $200-million at current market levels, according to Bloomberg calculations.
If the debt yields more than 11.75%, banks eat into fees. They would incur outright losses if the rate exceeds 12.125%. The Twitter financing package – one of the largest in recent memory – also includes $6.5-billion of leveraged loans and $3-billion of secured junk bonds. Those types of debt have held up better than unsecured bonds – though the loan market has dropped– and it’s unclear how much of a loss, if any, banks would take at current market levels.