Show Notes
Phoebe Appenteng and Katie McMahon open with the landmark Aggregate case (02:18), where a German court ruling has cast doubt on London’s position as Europe’s restructuring capital. What began as a standard Part 26A restructuring plan has turned into a jurisdictional battle that could reshape cross-border insolvency. A Berlin-based developer’s billion-dollar debt restructuring faces challenge from German creditor KVH, with Frankfurt courts preliminarily ruling against UK jurisdiction. Phoebe and Katie unpack the Rule in Gibbs, Brexit implications, and whether this signals the end of London’s 135-year dominance. From there (07:19), the conversation shifts to Prax, the UK energy group that collapsed spectacularly with just £203 in its accounts. Once hailed as one of the country’s fastest-growing companies, the oil refinery operator’s sudden insolvency reveals £1.5 billion in intercompany loans, a frozen £783 million HSBC securitization facility, and owners who fled to Dubai under a £150 million asset freeze. They examine the political fallout as Energy Secretary Ed Miliband faces questions about government oversight. The episode closes with an autumn check-in (14:30), where Phoebe and Katie swap seasonal routines, nostalgic YouTube algorithms, and personal reading goals. From McKinsey consultant sagas to Bloomberg’s Paper Soldiers and Saudi oil exposés, the exchange highlights the balance between professional insight and guilty-pleasure entertainment as markets heat up post-summer. ----more---- Hosted by: Phoebe Appenteng & Katie McMahonProduced and Edited by: Tanya HubbardA Production of The Octus Podcast Network
More from Credit Lens: Europe & Beyond
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.