A leveraged buyout (or LBO, or highly-leveraged transaction (HLT), or "bootstrap" transaction) occurs when a financial sponsor gains control of a majority of a target company's equity through the use of borrowed money or debt.
A leveraged buyout is a strategy involving the acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money (bonds or loans) to meet the cost of acquisition. Often, the assets of the company being acquired, in addition to the assets of the acquiring company, are used as collateral for the loans. The purpose of leveraged buyouts is to allow companies to make large acquisitions without having to commit a lot of capital. In an LBO, there is most often a ratio of 70% debt to 30% equity, although debt can reach as high as 90% to 95% of the target company's total capitalization. The equity component of the purchase price is typically provided by a pool of private equity capital.
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