Drahi’s Bondholders Are Suckers for Punishment

Restructuring is a game for grown-ups. Distressed-debt investors need to pick their targets with extreme care. Just look at the plight of bondholders at Altice International.

The company is part of Patrick Drahi’s telecoms empire and houses businesses in Portugal, the Caribbean and Israel. As is his way, the entrepreneur built it using lashings of debt issued in the low-interest rate era. Back then, investors were willing to accept weak contractual terms giving them limited rights in return for an alluring yield.