Excess baggage
Offloaded by its parent Gerling Group, unloved reinsurance subsidiary GKG has now deferred payment on its 2021 coupon – the first European borrower to default in such a way. So what persuaded bondholders to buy an issue from GKG in the first place – surely they were made fully aware of the firm’s problems, weren’t they? Oliver Holtaway reports
On July 2, the management of German reinsurance group Gerling-Konzern Globale Rückversicherungs (GKG) announced its intention to defer the coupon payment of its sole €220 million, 20-year bond, issued in August 2001. While the mainstream financial press has largely overlooked the event, the news has stunned bondholders. Not since the collapse of Barings Bank in 1995 have bondholders lost this much money on a European financial name.
The move marks the first time a European borrower has exercised
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