Crystal Cove Capital
Special situations and complex financings.
The firm
Crystal Cove Capital invests with selected partners in complex financings, hybrid capital and special situations across Europe. Our team brings more than 30 years of combined experience across bulge bracket investment banks and Big Four accounting firms.
It’s complicated. We get it.
We look for complex and special situations that require more than standard bank debt can offer. This is often because of cyclical underperformance, a looming debt maturity or M&A transaction, complicated group structures (e.g. minority interests, emerging-market subsidiaries or JVs), unusual or hard-to-value collateral, or accounting, regulatory, legal or reputational constraints.
Situations also include existing financings under pressure from covenant breaches, margin calls or lenders unwilling to refinance, as well as liquidity solutions for founders, family offices and holding companies who do not want to sell or give up control.
Where
While our primary focus is on the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), Benelux, the Nordics and the UK, our team also has experience across Central and Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, the Middle East and South Africa.
How
We typically invest with selected partners in transactions ranging from €50 million to €500 million but have executed deals from €1 million to over €1 billion.
Focus
Our team’s track record
Selected complex financings, hedging and hybrid capital transactions, ordered by type and size.
Complex financings
- €7bn Qatar / Volkswagen / Porsche structured equity financing
- $2.5bn margin loan for a Swiss holding company
- €1.1bn financing with a share price linked interest margin
- €1.1bn RETT blockers for German real estate companies
- €800m financing against a minority interest in a private company
- $300m loan against a stake that could not be pledged
Large hedging transactions
- $1.3bn prepaid variable forward on a US telecom company
- €1.2bn hedge and financing for shares with a 5-year transfer restriction
- €1.0bn prepaid collar on a global logistics company
- $500m stake building, hedging and financing in Lionsgate
- CHF500m accelerated share sale with cap and floor
- €300m total return swap on treasury shares
Hybrid capital and special situations
- £25.5bn convertible B-shares for Royal Bank of Scotland
- $500m regulatory capital convertible bond for Swiss Re
- €250m pre-IPO convertible bond for a German company
- €200m minority investment in a private telecom infrastructure firm
- €196m bespoke convertible bond to recapitalise Infineon
- €24m convertible bond-to-equity swap for Vivacon
