video transcript

-- is Alex Smith spoke to John -- and -- senior managing director of the Blackstone Group and lost whether the relative calm in Europe and the west was over. I'm so I think the word the operation. No word of your questions relative. Obviously here it's calm there's still I think about 550. Billion euros of debt to be restructured. Either under the context of sort of pretend. Amend and extend. How about this probably about a 150. Millions. That it has to restructure this year. 21 people are no longer worrying about the euros. Collapsing -- disintegrated. I think there's still. Great search for sure economic regeneration growth through here. You look here. A situation where perhaps. Markets more of -- who -- them than they were four of the firms like you. Well Blackstone. Has a complex set of things that invests in. And they really depends of the country depends an opportunity depends on the project -- the time so I'm not gonna generalize. And we will continue to be. Very tenacious and very curious. There are things to invest in and it's gonna continue to be a lot of -- And of course these remaining area I think is. Real estate is still alive. In the amount of realistic financial institutions are prepared to sell. I think you're just gonna continue to see that. Logjam. Break out hopefully and 2013. And all the money markets right to deal making. When you look at what let's look at the US tremendous. You've got an enormous amount of cash among US companies which we've been talking about the three years and we're getting tired of talking about it. But the new. Element to the nuance about is that activists are looking at that time she was saying and a lot of cash. You -- going down. Your margins and started to get squeezed. So many of these can be -- saying. I didn't spend this cash gonna do something about these margins. So I don't think companies are gonna diversify but I do you think the big. Companies. Consumer health care are going to be very aggressive. Looking for investments. And their core businesses they've done all -- the cost rationalizations side. They've also getting more and more pressure on the government side to him. You're gonna have to take the strategies one step further and move it looks -- those two things capturing in paper. All the cash available stock markets murdering depending what they're doing I think most of them are gonna do those. Deals and cash. Or -- Should be returned. What about bank deals that I mean we've we've overseas banks being in the center of the European crisis. Do you see further consolidation among among the banks to see a lot of a lot of that the solution place let's spend under under pressure. And that's very amusing question. I think Europe is going to be good I continued to. Spin off divestitures -- with respect to financial institutions I can't imagine too many boards unless they have a regulators gun to their heads are gonna take on. A series of risk and audit. Balance sheet issues from another entity unless it's either him staying in our bailout mode is something -- Progress I think it's going to be very little. Material. Bank and an activity I think there -- a number of banks that still have to shed assets right. And assisting last year for example. 47% of global limited activity was actually when I called pretty. And a lot of about 1215% of that was financial institutions I think you're gonna see a lot more prudent. And certainly in Europe this year.