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In general, the fires have been less widespread than anticipated, according to bankers and advisers. That is largely because many firms successfully renegotiated loan terms with creditors who were keen to avoid full-scale restructurings, according to Kate Ashton, a partner at law firm Debevoise & Plimpton. In the words of private equity grandee Jon Moulton: “A rolling loan gathers no loss.”

Nick Hazell, a partner at law firm Taylor Wessing, said he had been surprised at how supportive banks had been of buyout firms’ restructuring proposals. He said: “There has been more of a willingness to work things out than take the decision to go down a more formal route. That has been the biggest surprise. This time last year people were saying they would see a number of restructurings or insolvency opportunities in the market open up for deal potential, but that is not happening.”

Banks have been keen to support private equity deals in order to preserve their own balance sheets, according to Partha Kar, a partner in the restructuring team at law firm Kirkland & Ellis.

Governments have supported these efforts, said to Ann Cairns, head of the financial industry advisory group in Europe at restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal. She said: “Governments are putting in programmes which allow the banks some level of stability. They have given then some protection with the government’s asset protection scheme in the UK, for instance. This allows banks more time to hold assets on their balance sheets. It has dampened the whole restructuring market across Europe.”

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