Another wave of megabankruptcies is coming, experts say

Jun 22, 20200

David Zalubowski – Associated Press count

This May 23, 2020, photo shows rental vehicles parked outside a closed Hertz car rental office in south Denver. Hertz said Wednesday, June 17, it has put its plans to sell $500 million worth of stock on hold because the offering is being reviewed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Already, companies large and small are succumbing to the effects of the coronavirus. They include household names such as Hertz and J. Crew and comparatively anonymous energy companies such as Diamond Offshore Drilling and Whiting Petroleum.

And the wave of bankruptcies is going to get bigger.

Edward Altman, creator of the Z score, a widely used method of predicting business failures, estimated that this year will easily set a record for so-called megabankruptcies - filings by companies with $1 billion or more in debt. And he expects the number of merely large bankruptcies - at least $100 million - to challenge the record set the year after the 2008 economic crisis.

https://www.startribune.com/another-wave-of-megabankruptcies-is-coming-experts-say/571381212/