Topic: Debt Renegotiation and Debt Overhang: Evidence from Lender Mergers

Speaker: Yongqiang Chu, Associate Professor, University of South Carolina

Date: March 7th (Wednesday)

Time: 10:00-11:30am

Location: Building 4, Room 101

Language: English

Abstract:

This paper studies whether debt renegotiation mitigates debt overhang and improves investment efficiency. Using mergers between lenders participated in the same syndicated loans as natural experiments that exogenously reduce the number of lenders and thus make renegotiation easier, I find that firms affected by the mergers become more likely to renegotiate the loans and increase capital expenditure investment. I also find that the effect is stronger for firms with higher Q, suggesting improved investment efficiency. Further evidence suggests that the effect concentrates on loans without performance pricing provisions and unsecured loans, providing further support that lender mergers improve investment efficiency for firms suffering from debt overhang.

About the speaker:

Yongqiang Chu is an associate professor of finance and real estate at the Darla Moore School of Business. His research focuses on corporate finance, banking and, and real estate. He has published in the Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Management Science, and Review of Economic Dynamics, among others, and has taught undergraduate and graduate level real estate finance and investments courses.