Guggenheim Partners, which recently merged its restructuring business with Millstein & Co., sees opportunities in helping struggling local government creditors as budget impasses and pension liabilities put pressure on municipal bond issuers, Bloomberg News reported. "We’re starting to see some stress" on the state and local government side, driven by pension and other post-employment benefits and liabilities, which states are having "an impossible time funding," said Elizabeth Abrams, a senior managing director at Guggenheim, who came over from Millstein when the two advisory firms combined this month. Companies have also been taking on more debt relative to assets, while offering weaker loan safeguards to investors. As a result, one place the combined firm is looking for opportunities is reviewing companies’ debt documents to advise them on how to position themselves in negotiations with lenders, Abrams said.
