In the financial markets, there is a flow of funds from one group of parties (funds-surplus units) known as investors to another group (funds-deficit units) which require funds. However, often these groups do not have direct link. The link is provided by market intermediaries such as brokers, mutual funds, leasing and finance companies, etc. In all, there is a very large number of players and participants in the financial market. These can be grouped as follows :

The individuals: These are net savers and purchase the securities issued by corporates. Individuals provide funds by subscribing to these security or by making other investments.

The Firms or corporates: The corporates are net borrowers. They require funds for different projects from time to time. They offer different types of securities to suit the risk preferences of investors’ Sometimes, the corporates invest excess funds, as individuals do. The funds raised by issue of securities are invested in real assets like plant and machinery. The income generated by these real assets is distributed as interest or dividends to the investors who own the securities.

Government: Government may borrow funds to take care of the budget deficit or as a measure of controlling the liquidity, etc. Government may require funds for long terms (which are raised by issue of Government loans) or for short-terms (for maintaining liquidity) in the money market. Government makes initial investments in public sector enterprises by subscribing to the shares, however, these investments (shares) may be sold to public through the process of disinvestments.

Regulators: Financial system is regulated by different government agencies. The relationships among other participants, the trading mechanism and the overall flow of funds are managed, supervised and controlled by these statutory agencies. In India, two basic agencies regulating the financial market are the Reserve Bank of India (RBI ) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Reserve Bank of India, being the Central Bank, has the primary responsibility of maintaining liquidity in the money market’ It undertakes the sale and purchase of T-Bills on behalf of the Government of India. SEBI has a primary responsibility of regulating and supervising the capital market. It has issued a number of Guidelines and Rules for the control and supervision of capital market and investors’ protection. Besides, there is an array of legislations and government departments also to regulate the operations in the financial system.

Market Intermediaries: There are a number of market intermediaries known as financial intermediaries or merchant bankers, operating in financial system. These are also known as investment managers or investment bankers. The objective of these intermediaries is to smoothen the process of investment and to establish a link between the investors and the users of funds. Corporations and Governments do not market their securities directly to the investors. Instead, they hire the services of the market intermediaries to represent them to the investors. Investors, particularly small investors, find it difficult to make direct investment. A small investor desiring to invest may not find a willing and desirable borrower. He may not be able to diversify across borrowers to reduce risk. He may not be equipped to assess and monitor the credit risk of borrowers. Market intermediaries help investors to select investments by providing investment consultancy, market analysis and credit rating of investment instruments. In order to operate in secondary market, the investors have to transact through share brokers. Mutual funds and investment companies pool the funds(savings) of investors and invest the corpus in different investment alternatives. Some of the market intermediaries are:

Lead Managers
Bankers to the Issue
Registrar and Share Transfer Agents
Depositories
Clearing Corporations
Share brokers
Credit Rating Agencies
Underwriters
Custodians
Portfolio Managers
Mutual Funds
Investment Companies

These market intermediaries provide different types of financial services to the investors. They provide expertise to the securities issuers. They are constantly operating in the financial market. Small investors in particular and other investors too, rely on them. It is in their (market intermediaries) own interest to behave rationally, maintain integrity and to protect and maintain reputation, otherwise the investors would not be trusting them next time. In principle, these intermediaries bring efficiency to corporate fund raising by developing expertise in pricing new issues and marketing them to the investors.

EBITDA

Definition

Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization. An approximate measure of a company's operating cash flow based on data from the company's income statement. Calculated by looking at earnings before the deduction of interest expenses, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. This earnings measure is of particular interest in cases where companies have large amounts of fixed assets which are subject to heavy depreciation charges (such as manufacturing companies) or in the case where a company has a large amount of acquired intangible assets on its books and is thus subject to large amortization charges (such as a company that has purchased a brand or a company that has recently made a large acquisition). Since the distortionary accounting and financing effects on company earnings do not factor into EBITDA, it is a good way of comparing companies within and across industries. This measure is also of interest to a company's creditors, since EBITDA is essentially the income that a company has free for interest payments. In general, EBITDA is a useful measure only for large companies with significant assets, and/or for companies with a significant amount of

P/E ratio

Definition

price/earnings ratio. The most common measure of how expensive a stock is. The P/E ratio is equal to a stock's market capitalization divided by its after-tax earnings over a 12-month period, usually the trailing period but occasionally the current or forward period. The value is the same whether the calculation is done for the whole company or on a per-share basis. For example, the P/E ratio of company A with a share price of $10 and earnings per share of $2 is 5. The higher the P/E ratio, the more the market is willing to pay for each dollar of annual earnings. Companies with high P/E ratios are more likely to be considered "risky" investments than those with low P/E ratios, since a high P/E ratio signifies high expectations. Comparing P/E ratios is most valuable for companies within the same industry. The last year's price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio) would be actual, while current year and forward year price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio) would be estimates, but in each case, the "P" in the equation is the current price. Companies that are not currently profitable (that is, ones which have negative earnings) don't have a P/E ratio at all. also called earnings multiple

Distinction between Mergers and Acquisitions
Although they are often uttered in the same breath and used as though they were synonymous, the terms merger and acquisition mean slightly different things.

When one company takes over another and clearly established itself as the new owner, the purchase is called an acquisition. From a legal point of view, the target company ceases to exist, the buyer "swallows" the business and the buyer's stock continues to be traded.

Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange. ^[1]

Among the most common investment strategies in private equity are: leveraged buyouts, venture capital, growth capital, distressed investments and mezzanine capital. In a typical leveraged buyout transaction, the private equity firm buys majority control of an existing or mature firm. This is distinct from a venture capital or growth capital investment, in which the private equity firm typically invests in young or emerging companies, and rarely obtain majority control.

An LBO, or leveraged buyout, is where someone buys a controlling interest of a company’s stocks by using leveraged finances. The LBO is used when an acquiring interest doesn’t wish to invest, or doesn’t have on hand, the amount of capital needed to actually buy a controlling interest in a target company. In order to finance the purchase, they therefore take out massive loans, using the assets of the company they will be acquiring as collateral against their debt. They then generally liquidate the company they’ve purchased, pay off the loans, and pocket the profit.

Leveraged Buyout - LBO

What Does Leveraged Buyout - LBO Mean?
The acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money (bonds or loans) to meet the cost of acquisition. Often, the assets of the company being acquired are used as collateral for the loans in addition to the assets of the acquiring company. The purpose of leveraged buyouts is to allow companies to make large acquisitions without having to commit a lot of capital.

Investopedia explains Leveraged Buyout - LBO
In an LBO, there is usually a ratio of 90% debt to 10% equity. Because of this high debt/equity ratio, the bonds usually are not investment grade and are referred to as junk bonds. Leveraged buyouts have had a notorious history, especially in the 1980s when several prominent buyouts led to the eventual bankruptcy of the acquired companies. This was mainly due to the fact that the leverage ratio was nearly 100% and the interest payments were so large that the company's operating cash flows were unable to meet the obligation.

One of the largest LBOs on record was the acquisition of HCA Inc. in 2006 by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), Bain & Co., and Merrill Lynch. The three companies paid around $33 billion for the acquisition.

It can be considered ironic that a company's success (in the form of assets on the balance sheet) can be used against it as collateral by a hostile company that acquires it. For this reason, some regard LBOs as an especially ruthless, predatory tactic.

Filed Under: Acronyms, Bonds

Related Terms

· Buy, Strip and Flip

· Debt/Equity Ratio

· EBITDA-To-Interest Coverage Ratio

· Employee Buyout - EBO

· Going Private

· Institutional Buyout - IBO

· Leverage

· Leveraged Loan

· Management And Employee Buyout - MEBO

· Management Buy-In - MBI