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Re:Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy by whatok on Thursday May 07, 2020 @03:15PM (#23107019)
How does a PE firm make money if a shell company of theirs is losing money while another arm of it makes money?

Also, if the only financing a business can access is basically consumer credit card rates, they probably weren't a going concern.

Re:Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy by pjc50 on Thursday May 07, 2020 @04:16PM (#23107734)
The Maplin explanation: http://www.coppolacomment.com/2018/03/the-sad-story-of-mapli...

> Further down the corporate structure, Maplin Electronics Group (Holdings) Ltd. mainly seems to exist to drain Maplin Electronics Ltd. of profits. On the books of Maplin Electronics Group (Holdings) Ltd. is an intercompany loan to Maplin Electronics Ltd. at an interest rate of 10%. The interest charge on this loan was sufficient to ensure that Maplin Electronics Ltd. made a statutory loss in both 2016 and 2017. Meanwhile, the direct owner of Maplin Electronics Ltd, Maplin Electronics (Holdings) Ltd., appears to exist only as a vehicle to hold a £31m revolving credit facility from Lloyds Bank. All of these intermediate companies are effectively guaranteed by MEL TopCo. All of them are now therefore insolvent.

> ... When Rutland Partners acquired Maplin in 2014 it funded the purchase with debt. That debt was loaded in its entirety on to the books of MEL Topco, in the form of £15m of bank loans at Libor + 7.5% and £72m of shareholders' loan notes at 15%.

Re:Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy by whatok on Thursday May 07, 2020 @04:22PM (#23107804)
None of those entities mentioned in there are creditors except Lloyds. Private equity deals sometimes have complex capital structures with absurd entity names but creating a "shell company" as described earlier doesn't allow you to get away with theft.
Re:Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy by takeda on Thursday May 07, 2020 @04:03PM (#23107570)
When I got a mortgage and refinanced. In both cases shortly after I got letter that my debt was purchased by someone else and from now on my payments supposed to go to a different company.

I suspect it is similar here. They make the loan then sell it to someone else.

Re:Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy by whatok on Thursday May 07, 2020 @04:08PM (#23107628)
That's very different than the Enron-esque transaction described above. You are describing two separate companies. They're saying that some "shell company" takes a loss while the parent company makes all the profit.