Specialized finance firm Greensill Capital was heading for a rapid collapse after Credit Suisse Group AG suspended $ 10 billion in investment funds that fed the startup supported by SoftBank Group Corp.
With a major source of funding frozen, Greensill appointed Grant Thornton to guide her through possible restructuring, and could file for insolvency, the UK equivalent of bankruptcy, in a few days, according to people familiar with the company. .
Greensill is simultaneously in talks with private equity giant Apollo Global Management Inc. to sell its operating businesses for about $ 100 million, according to people familiar with the negotiations. Although a deal was not for all of Greensill’s assets, the figure represents a slice of its peak valuation of $ 4 billion.
UK-based Greensill is the brainchild of former Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley financier Lex Greensill. Founded in 2011, Greensill specializes in an area known as supply chain finance, a form of short-term cash advance that allows companies to extend the time they have to pay their bills.
Greensill packages these cash advances into bond-like bonds that offer investors a higher return than they could get from bank deposits. Credit Suisse’s funds were a major buyer of these bonds, giving Greensill the firepower to expand its business. Fund investors include pensions, corporate treasurers and wealthy families.