Firms facing tougher debt terms

COMPANIES are facing a wall of maturing debt raised during the boom years that will expose them to tougher repayment terms as they come to refinance.

Quayle Munro, the boutique Scottish investment bank, says up to 185 billion of debt in the UK will mature in the next two years and is hiring staff to cope with inquiries from firms now looking for new deals.

Stuart Roberts, who will be responsible for the development of its debt advisory business, said: "There will be a number of companies who did deals when times were good who now have significant issues in terms of refinance. Many will be on rates that will certainly not be available now and they may not even find their bank receptive to their requirements."

Quayle Munro has worked on a number of key transactions, including Peel Ports' acquisition of Mersey Docks and Clyde Blowers Capital's acquisition of Textron's fluid and power divisions.

The development of the debt advisory business will reposition Quayle Munro from infrastructure - mainly PFI work which now accounts for less than 15 per cent of revenue.

Roberts joins from Royal Bank of Scotland where he was head of structured finance in Aberdeen. He was also a member of the integrated finance team at Bank of Scotland.