Show Notes
Air Baltic has landed in a New York courtroom, and HelloFresh has watched a brand new bond shed 13 points in two months. Phoebe Appenteng and Katie McMahon work through both in the latest Credit Lens: Europe & Beyond.
They open on Riga’s third appearance on the show, tracking how an unhedged fuel book and a failed interim financing plan pushed Air Baltic into Chapter 11 on September 14 (01:51). The interim deal would have come in at a 25% PIK coupon capitalizing monthly, super senior to the existing 2029 bonds (04:40). Bondholders rejected it. The new DIP financing of roughly 350 million euros now faces a potential priming fight (07:37).
From there, the conversation turns to HelloFresh’s 350 million senior unsecured notes, issued in July and already quoted at 87 by early September (11:08). Revenue guidance has been cut to a 9% to 11% decline (15:28), marketing spend is being pulled mid-pivot into ready-to-eat (16:03), and the 2027 revolver sits unrefinanced inside the window.
The episode closes with Mystery Box, a HelloFresh-themed cooking game prepared by producer Charlie, where Katie and Phoebe match ingredients to actual HelloFresh recipes with mixed results (16:41).
Two European credit stories where the story is who sets the terms when expectations shift. ----more---- Hosted by Phoebe Appenteng and Katie McMahon. Produced by Charlie Hall. Edited by Fawaz Muhammed. A Production of The Octus Podcast Network
More from Credit Lens: Europe & Beyond
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Aston Martin has survived seven bankruptcy proceedings in a century, and the eighth chapter is now being written in a bondholder co-op agreement. Phoebe Appenteng and Katie McMahon are joined by Rafi Rees, Credit Analyst at Octus, to work through the iconic British carmaker's latest brush with distress.
Private credit has found a new frontier, and it looks a lot like a football stadium. Phoebe Appenteng and Katie McMahon take it on in the latest Credit Lens: Europe & Beyond, joined by Oscar Laurikka, Head of Europe Private Credit and Deal Origination at Octus. The conversation opens on why private capital is flowing into European sport, from league-level infrastructure and media rights to asset-backed loans against stadiums and parachute payments (01:37). Laurikka works through why CVC and its peers still avoid direct club stakes, and how Germany's 50-plus-one rule is pushing investors toward hybrid capital structures (07:44). The second half turns to Grupo Antolin's Spanish recapitalization, where bondholders face a 32.5% haircut while banks get par reinstatement and the family keeps equity (11:21). Phoebe and Katie also weigh the credibility of the 2029 business plan against four consecutive years of missed EBITDA margin targets (14:35). The episode closes with a higher or lower ranking of British prime ministers by tenure (18:14).