Are bondholders finally fighting back? The planned break-up of Tyco is causing a bit of a stir as bondholders have hired a top-flight lawyer to fight their corner. The sabre-rattling is significant. The lawyer in question, from Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, squeezed more than $100m extra in redemption premium than was initially offered in the last big bondholder skirmish – that of Equity Office Properties in its leveraged buy-out by Blackstone.

The plight of investment grade bondholders and, to a lesser extent, high-yield has been well rehearsed. Some $230bn worth of leveraged buy-outs in the US last year inflicted pain on their holdings as new debt and credit rating downgrades combined to push down prices, followed by still more debt in the case of dividend recapitalisations, favoured by many leveraged buyers.