M&A rebound will come – Goldman Sachs’ Vivek Bantwal

The expected M&A rebound may take longer to materialise, but it will come, Vivek Bantwal, co-head of global private credit at Goldman Sachs, said on the Credit Exchange podcast. Both public markets and private markets have a place, and in some areas, there’s been a blurring of the lines between the two, Bantwal told Lisa Lee, the managing editor of Creditflux.Given Goldman’s role at the centre of that ecosystem, Bantwal thinks it’s important they are able to show their clients solutions in both markets side-by-side.When underwriting new deals right now, look at how tariffs might impact. But what else are you looking at, Bantwal asks. What’s changed, given the new uncertainty that’s popped up in this world and in investing?The other part of the analysis, though, may not be so much related to tariffs. If you have an economic slowdown or a recession, how is that management team planning to weather the storm? What do you know about their supply chains, what they do with their marketing or their capex plans? Staying close to your management teams and understanding their plans for how to navigate all that is a really important part of the underwriting process, Bantwal emphasises.There’s also opportunities in hybrid – the type of capital that sits in-between debt and equity and is very flexible. Hybrids can be used in a variety of ways, Bantwal notes – especially given the challenges in the private equity community to exit in the current environment.

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