Hedski - considering that the financial security and strength of the bidders was a main part of the selection process, it is disappointing that there wasn't much in-depth scrutiny of the underlying business figures.
Although, considering some of the accusations made recently about the Big Four accountancy/auditing firms, it was probably a professional handshake to sign off the accounts.
Not helped by the fact that MoD wanted rid of SAR from their (equally dodgy) books.
RMK - I get the impression that the PIK is more used for take-over funding where only those investors capable of or willing to take much higher levels of risk get involved because the possible interest rates are much higher.