Among all of the famous and wealthy fans cheering on game four of the NBA finals, perhaps none had as much to be excited about as a group of distressed debt specialists who had bet on the troubled regional sports network that airs the Knicks games.
OG Anunoby’s iconic last second game winning put-back gave the New York Knicks an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the series and helped cement their place in history — and it could also be the tipping point in handing as much as $100m in pure profit to investors in MSG Networks debt restructuring last year.
Distressed investors who bought the majority of an $804m term loan at deeply discounted levels are on track to more than double their money if the company's contingent value structure pays out in full, according to sources familiar with the matter and public filings reviewed by 9fin. The investors include by Deutsche Bank’s Distressed Products Group, GoldenTree Asset Management and Monarch Alternative Capital. The investors bought the debt in the 20s, and then in the at times contentious out-of-court restructuring got $210m in take-back paper, $80m in cash, and up to $100m of contingent upside. The cash...
