Corporate Finance
Capital-market debt beyond the house bank — with a realistic view of effort, cost and publicity.
Companies rarely consider a bond or a Schuldschein for its own sake. Usually the bank lines are exhausted, maturities no longer match the investment plan, or a concentration risk with one institution needs to be reduced.
The Schuldschein remains the pragmatic entry point. No prospectus, no formal rating, documentation under German law and a manageable page count. Investors are savings banks, Landesbanken, insurers and pension funds. Eight to twelve weeks from mandate to funding is normal.
A bond costs more lead time and more money — prospectus, rating, ongoing disclosure. It pays off if you intend to return to the market regularly, need a wider investor base, or want the visibility. For a one-off €30m refinancing, the Schuldschein almost always wins.
Building blocks
Offering several maturity tranches in parallel costs nothing and widens the investor base noticeably. Insurers buy seven and ten years, banks prefer three and five. We start with a target volume and an upsize corridor rather than defending a fixed number.
Leverage, interest cover and a negative pledge are standard. The mistake is rarely the selection, it is the headroom: set the ratio at plan level and the first weak quarter produces a breach and an expensive renegotiation. We model the downside first and derive the threshold from it.
For a Schuldschein most investors accept the arranging bank's internal credit assessment. For a bond an external rating is effectively unavoidable. The process takes six to ten weeks and needs preparation — a poorly handled rating meeting easily costs half a notch.
Placement runs through platforms and direct relationships. Both together work best: the platform creates breadth, the personal conversation brings the anchor order. We approach investors that fit the business model — the right list, not the longest.
Process
Review of existing lines, maturities and security. This shows whether a capital-market instrument makes sense at all.
Schuldschein, bond or a combination with existing bank debt — weighed on cost, lead time and publicity.
Company presentation, financials, plan and term sheet. For a bond, prospectus and rating process on top.
Investor approach, Q&A and order collection through the bookbuilding phase.
Coupon and volume set against the order book. This is where an issue either captures value or leaves money on the table.
Documentation, funding and setting up the ongoing investor reporting.
From practice
The work starts after issuance: half-year figures, covenant compliance certificates, investor calls. If controlling isn't set up for it, you sit in uncomfortable meetings two years later. We settle who produces what, and how often, before placement.
A Schuldschein alongside existing loan agreements can touch pari passu or negative pledge clauses. Those conversations belong at the start. House banks brought in early often subscribe themselves.
Questions
We review your financing structure and tell you plainly whether a step to the capital market is worth it.
