Credit Lens: Europe & Beyond

EP 19 | Private Credit's Push Into European Sport, Grupo Antolin's Spanish Restructuring, and a Prime Minister Power Ranking

Credit Lens: Europe & Beyond

Show Notes

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).

Closing Credits ----more---- Hosted by Phoebe Appenteng and Katie McMahon. Guest: Oscar Laurikka, Head of Europe Private Credit and Deal Origination, Octus. Produced by Charlie Hall. Edited by Fawaz Muhammed. A Production of The Octus Podcast Network

More from Credit Lens: Europe & Beyond

Oct 8, 2026

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.

Sep 3, 2026

Aston Martin just moved what looks like most of its intellectual property into a chain of Cayman Islands subsidiaries, and bondholders are still trying to figure out how it was allowed. Phoebe Appenteng and Katie McMahon take it on in the latest Credit Lens: Europe & Beyond, joined by Bart Capeci, Senior Covenants Analyst at Octus, and Aditya Khanna, Head of EMEA Legal Research at Octus.

Aug 19, 2026

Europe's rivers are running low, and the credit implications are running deeper than the earnings calls suggest. Phoebe Appenteng and Katie McMahon take it on in the latest Credit Lens: Europe & Beyond, joined by Wayne Jambawo, Financial Analyst at Octus.

Aug 11, 2026

A Spanish auto supplier quietly filed for insolvency without telling its bondholders. A UK utility is dangling a golden share at the government to fend off nationalization. Two of the messier situations in European credit right now, worked through in one episode. Phoebe Appenteng and Katie McMahon are joined by Rob Schach, managing editor, EMEA at Octus, to unpack Grupo Antolin's restructuring, from the banks-first deal that offered bondholders a 32.5% haircut (04:10) to the covert Spanish filing that bondholders only discovered through a Chapter 15 petition in the US (05:31). Rob walks through the Rule in Gibbs claim, the winding-up petitions, and where he thinks the leverage actually sits (06:16).

Jul 20, 2026

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.

See all episodes →