Marc Lasry Quotes
101 Marc Lasry Quotes
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It’s very company specific. You have to look at the entire capital structure and value all the assets and figure out the real values, and then put on your restructuring hat and figure out how you think distributions will be made, and in what form. Will it be cash or post-reorganization equity? Will the debt get reinstated? With respect to the theme park industry, we knew where competitors were trading and we had researched historical sales in the industry, and we thought we would be able to invest as low as a 50 percent discount to the public comparables. So we thought we were getting paid for the risk/reward of this investment.
Marc Lasry
The real win for distressed investors is finding opportunities where you’re buying bonds at 30, 40, 50, 60 cents on the dollar, at a price where you believe that your investment is covered by the asset values with respect to where you sit in the capital structure, and you’re going to ultimately get par.
Marc Lasry
[On Six Flags] We determined that if capital was easy to raise, then other investors would take us on and we would get par plus accrued. But if it wasn’t easy to raise capital, then we’d end up getting control of the company and create significant equity at a pretty low multiple.
Marc Lasry
At the time, Six Flags really didn’t have a choice in filing for bankruptcy. They were massively overleveraged, as there was approximately $2.5 billion of debt for a company that was only generating about $200 million in EBITDA.
Marc Lasry
[On the junior bond holders wanting to take control of the equity.] To give them control, we told them they’d have to pay us par plus accrued interest, which they ultimately did.
Marc Lasry
For an investment we made at significantly distressed prices, we ended up receiving in excess of par, which worked out pretty well.
Marc Lasry
Back in 2008, everyone was so nervous that they were focused more on liquidity, rather than value.
Marc Lasry
The more your focus is on liquidity, the more you’re willing to sell because liquidity is paramount. Whereas, if your focus is on the quality of the investment and not solely liquidity, then you’ll do very well, as long as you’re right on credit and have stable capital.
Marc Lasry
I think everybody worries about liquidity, but we have a structure where we have more long-term money than short-term money. And, even in a tough market, there is a lot to do in distressed. We have been through challenging cycles in the past and we always figure it out. That’s the beauty of being in this business for more than 25 years. You come to understand the movements in the markets. There’s never a dull moment and that’s why I love it.
Marc Lasry
[In February 2012] The names in our portfolio will ultimately be worth a lot of money. I just need time. People have a natural aversion to investing in companies in bankruptcy.
Marc Lasry
I’ve been phenomenally successful, and this is the only country I could have done it in.
Marc Lasry
Because of the fact that we came here as immigrants, we became democrats. We grew up that way.
Marc Lasry
[To his sister Sonia Gardner who is the glass half empty type whilst he is the glass half full type.] Hey, Smiley, what are you in a bad mood about today?
Marc Lasry
[In July 2012 on investing in Europe.] It’s not a three month bet or a six month bet. It’s a three to five year bet.
Marc Lasry
[In July 2012] We could invest the whole fund today but you want to average in. There will be relief rallies, but when the fear comes back in, we buy.
Marc Lasry
[In July 2012] Travelodge is a good business but they’re having trouble in the current economic environment.
Marc Lasry
[In July 2012] Europe isn’t going away, and the companies aren’t going away. You can never time a bottom. What you can do is time a cycle and five years from now, people will say – ‘Why didn’t I buy?’
Marc Lasry
[In August 2005] Distress is around the corner.
Marc Lasry
[In August 2005 on rising interest rates, a real estate bubble ready to burst…] When I look at all that, my view is that logic will win out.
Marc Lasry
[In August 2005] Sooner or later, reality will prevail. The cycle will turn, and we’ll be ready.
Marc Lasry
Most investors focus on how much they’re going to make rather than on how much they could lose. Our focus is on the downside.
Marc Lasry
Once we know that our downside is protected, then we look at what we can make on it.
Marc Lasry
[On
David Tepper] David likes to take risks. He likes playing at the bottom of the capital structure, and if he’s right, he does extremely well. If he’s wrong, he gets hurt.
Marc Lasry
[On buying senior bank loans or bonds generally at $0.40 to $0.60 on the dollar.] We’ve done it in Europe, in Asia, and in the U.S. Our downside is we’ll get back our cost three years from now.
Marc Lasry
I’ve generated an equity-like return and taken substantially less risk. That’s a lot of what we do. We’re getting overpaid for that risk. We would rather protect our downside.
Marc Lasry
You invest only in the opportunities you see. I have no problem sitting on cash.
Marc Lasry
We have a large team. We like to do private equity type research, go out and meet with the company. Our analysts look at maybe ten companies each.
Marc Lasry
[On considering whether to buy and looking at whether there is a reason for the in trouble company to stay in business.] If it ceased to exist, would it matter? Are there real assets there? Is there a consistency to the cash flow? Current problems aside, is this a company that is going to be able to survive? Does it have something that’s unique that its competitors want?
Marc Lasry
[On Wal-Mart competitor Caldors when it filed for bankruptcy in 1995] A company like that buys goods cheap and sells them. There’s no barrier to entry and lots of other retailers are doing the same thing. If Caldor’s goes out of business, it’s not going to be a big deal. [In 1999 it ceased operations.]
Marc Lasry
[On his recommendations making the firm he worked at $25 million and asking for 0.5 percent of the money ($125,000) as a bonus on his salary of $50,000 and instead being offered $10,000.] I realized this firm wasn’t the place for me.
Marc Lasry
[On David Bonderman] Bonderman is a pretty unique individual. There were very few people managing a couple of billion dollars then. Bonderman was investing in equities, distressed debt, everything. He’s at the high end of street smarts and book smarts.
Marc Lasry
[More on David Bonderman] Everyone thinks he’s smart, but when you meet someone you think is head and shoulders above you, that’s what creates a phenomenal place to work.
Marc Lasry
There are always going to be very smart people. The thing that will set you apart is if you have a real love: if you really want to kill for that job and you show you can figure things out a little bit differently. You can’t be shy about voicing your opinions.
Marc Lasry
I run my own firm, but if David [Bonderman] suggests something, I do it.
Marc Lasry
[On starting Avenue Capital] For those first five years, all I did was invest money and travel to meet investor after investor after investor after investor. I was putting in twelve to eighteen hour days. When the government of Singapore says, ‘We’d love to invest. But please come by at the end of the week, otherwise we won’t have time to see you for another three months,’ you make a day trip to Singapore. It was a huge amount of work.
Marc Lasry
[On selling 15 percent of Avenue Capital to Morgan Stanley in 2006 for $280 million.] It brought in a world class partner who could increase our information flow. It was the next logical step in continuing to build our firm.
Marc Lasry
The person who is better prepared, the person who has done the most work, has a huge edge because most people are lazy.
Marc Lasry
[On Delta Bonds.] It’s a very different investment at 70 than at 20.
Marc Lasry
[On investing in Asian distressed debt shortly after the Asian economic crisis in 1997 and 1998] We concluded that there were a lot of things that were underpriced. Many believed the risks were too high. Very few went there and spent time looking at the companies. If you did, what you saw were world-class companies trading at low multiples. It seemed illogical. And sooner or later, logic wins out.
Marc Lasry
The challenge is finding another market where you’re a little bit early.
Marc Lasry
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