Who’s afraid of François Hollande? Levfin aims to thrive

France has a rough reputation in European leveraged finance. The insolvency regime is unfriendly to creditors, while specific laws make it hard to raise debt on an acquisition target. The new socialist government has tightened the tax regime and changed employment law. But it’s not all bad news for levfin. Some of Hollande’s changes could help the market, and above all, debt is available and private equity funds have an appetite for deals. Stefanie Linhardt reports.