"Redbridge was instrumental in helping determine Christian Louboutin's future debt strategy by bringing in a team of highly skilled professionals that acted as a sounding board, provided an independent external point of view, and offered in-depth corporate credit & rating expertise. I highly recommend Redbridge's debt advisory services."
Engagement overview
- Analysis of the company’s business plan:
- consideration of stressed / M&A scenarios
- External rating assessment (S&P & Moody’s)
- Analysis of debt capacity and liquidity needs
- Definition of a new financing strategy and a clear roadmap to implement it
Objectives
- Assessment of investors’ view on Christian Louboutin’s credit profile (using S&P & Moody’s methodologies)
- Identification of external financing and liquidity requirements to meet the needs linked to the business plan and the scenarios that were considered
- Definition and evaluation of the different financing options available to diversify the group’s sources of financing
Results
- Insight into and unbiased recommendations on ratings outcomes
- Clear recommendations on financing options and instruments
- Detailed roadmap on how to implement the various options of the financing strategy
Methodology
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- Bi-weekly steering committee discussing strategy and progress
- 360° diagnosis of the group’s current financing structure, including liquidity analysis and updating the bank profitability RAROC model with new bank ratings
- Modelling of a base case and downside case for each M&A scenario based on the figures in the business plan
- Assessment of bank rating and external rating (including contacting S&P and Moody’s for more insight) for each scenario and recommendations on how to improve the ratings
- Calculation of the company’s financing and liquidity needs, enabling us to determine the optimal financing instruments and structure (amount, maturity, amortization, fees, etc.)
Value added by Redbridge
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- Ability to provide truly unbiased advice on a wide range of financing instruments and lay out the pros and cons of each option, taking Christian Louboutin’s priorities and credit story into account
- Numerous debt structure advisory engagements, resulting in swift, thorough analysis
- In-house debt structure advisory and rating models
- Our team’s unique expertise on bank and external ratings, built up over 20 years, enabled us to:
- Provide precise and unconflicted assessments of Christian Louboutin’s credit profile
- Develop a consistent credit story that included relevant information to be communicated to financing partners