Bain’s Rufino on Special Sits Strategy: State of Distressed Debt

“A marriage…chemistry… [and] shared vision” is how Bain Capital partner Angelo Rufino described investments centered around a new asset class of hybrid capital that combines features of debt and equity in a conversation with Bloomberg Intelligence’s Negisa Balluku that took place live at Beard Group’s Distressed Investing Conference. As Head of Special Situations in North America as well as Head of Corporate Special Situations in Europe, Rufino shared his perspective on the bespoke nature and the “win-win” value proposition of a special situations product that provides both operational value-add and financing capital. (8:36) Prior to that, Noel Hebert, head of Bloomberg Intelligence’s global credit strategy, and Philip Brendel, BI distressed-credit analyst, assessed the impact of an improved M&A environment in a Trump administration on distressed-debt supply. The podcast concludes with Negisa, Phil and Noel discussing the latest developments in Spirit Airlines, J&J’s talc bankruptcy, Yellow, Hertz, Avon and Hearthside. (52:27)