Forbear or for worse

3 December 2020 By Anna Szymanski

The genealogy provider is disenfranchising large creditors in a $1.2 bln debt deal helping to fund the private equity shop’s buyout. Bondholders could push back in the future, but they can’t afford to sit out in a liquidity-drenched market. Issuers will keep their upper hand.

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Blackstone said on Aug. 5 that it was acquiring genealogy service Ancestry.com for $4.7 billion, including debt, the first acquisition from Blackstone Capital Partners VIII.

A $1.2 billion debt offering connected with the buyout, which ended marketing on Nov. 23, caps voting rights at 20% for all holders, leaving the issuer with sole discretion to lift the cap. It also includes a provision that requires bondholders to report if they are net short a company.

The offering was eight times oversubscribed, according to the Financial Times.

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