/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR

/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/230110.mbx T R O U B L E D C O M P A N Y R E P O R T E R E U R O P E Tuesday, January 10, 2023, Vol. 24, No. 8 Headlines C Z E C H R E P U B L I C MANCHESTER ACQUISITION: Fidelity Fund Marks $18.2M Loan at 15% Off F R A N C E CASSINI SAS: EUR141M Bank Debt Trades at 18% Discount G E R M A N Y SPEEEDSTER BIDCO: Prudential GTRFI Marks $3.2M Loan at 19% Off L U X E M B O U R G TRAVELPORT FINANCE: Fidelity Fund Marks $23.3M Loan at 33% Off U N I T E D K I N G D O M BRIDGEGATE FUNDING: S&P Assigns Prelim BB+ (sf) Rating to F Notes BRITISHVOLT: In Talks to Sell Majority Stake for GBP150MM+ BYRON BURGER: Owner Seeks to Sell Business via Administration COMET BIDCO: GBP315M Bank Debt Trades at 29% Discount CONSTELLATION AUTOMOTIVE: Prudential GTRFI Marks $6.8M Loan at 22% CRUSSH: Set to Enter Into Administration Following Major Losses GREENSILL BANK: Credit Suisse Launches Legal Action SINGLETON'S DAIRY: Owed Almost GBP4MM at Time of Administration WILD BEER: Curious Brewery Acquires Parts of Business - - - - - =========================== C Z E C H R E P U B L I C =========================== MANCHESTER ACQUISITION: Fidelity Fund Marks $18.2M Loan at 15% Off ------------------------------------------------------------------ Fidelity Advisor Value Fund, a fund of Fidelity Advisor Series I, has marked its $18,265,000 loan extended to Manchester Acquisition Sub LLC to market at $15,525,000, or 85% of the outstanding amount, as of October 31, 2022, according to a disclosure contained in its Form N-CSR for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 21. Fidelity Advisor Value Fund extended a Tranche B first lien term loan that carries 8.8% interest (CME Term SOFR 1 Month Index + 5.750%) to Manchester Acquisition Sub LLC. The loan is scheduled to mature on December 1, 2026. Fidelity Advisor Value Fund is a fund of Fidelity Advisor Series I, a Trust that is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company organized as a Massachusetts business trust. Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC (FMR) serves as investment manager. Manchester Acquisition Sub LLC is a unit of Draslovka Holding a.s., a private holding company based in the Czech Republic and a global leader in cyanide-based chemical specialties and agricultural chemicals. =========== F R A N C E =========== CASSINI SAS: EUR141M Bank Debt Trades at 18% Discount ----------------------------------------------------- Participations in a syndicated loan under which Cassini SAS is a borrower were trading in the secondary market around 82.2 cents-on-the-dollar during the week ended Friday, January 6, 2023, according to Bloomberg's Evaluated Pricing service data. The EUR141 million facility is a Term loan that is scheduled to mature on March 28, 2026. The amount is fully drawn and outstanding. Cassini SAS operates as a new holding company to acquire the entire equity capital from current parent Comete Holding SAS. The Company's country of domicile is France. ============= G E R M A N Y ============= SPEEEDSTER BIDCO: Prudential GTRFI Marks $3.2M Loan at 19% Off -------------------------------------------------------------- Prudential Global Total Return Fund, Inc. has marked its $3,265,000 loan extended to Speedster Bidco GmbH, to market at $2,643,825 or 81% of the outstanding amount, as of October 31, 2022, according to a disclosure contained Prudential GTRFI's Form 485BPOS for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 29, 2022. Prudential GTRFI extended a Second Lien Term Loan to Speedster Bidco GmbH. The loan carries 8.1% interest (3 Month EURIBOR + 6.250%) and is scheduled to mature on March 31, 2028. Prudential GTRFI is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company. The RIC is organized as a Maryland Corporation. Speedster Bidco GmbH is controlled by Hellman & Friedman, which had acquired AutoScout24 in 2020. Parent company, Munich, Germany-based AutoScout24 GmbH, operates a website for trading vehicles such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, and more. It also offers loans and vehicle licensing products. The Company's country of domicile is Germany. =================== L U X E M B O U R G =================== TRAVELPORT FINANCE: Fidelity Fund Marks $23.3M Loan at 33% Off -------------------------------------------------------------- Fidelity Advisor Value Fund, a fund of Fidelity Advisor Series I, has marked its $23,369,000 loan extended to Travelport Finance (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l. to market at $15,672, or 67% of the outstanding amount, as of October 31, 2022, according to a disclosure contained in its Form N-CSR for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 21. Fidelity Advisor Value Fund extended a first lien term loan that carries a 12.4241% interest (1 month U.S. LIBOR + 5.170%) to Travelport Finance (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l.. The loan is scheduled to mature on May 30, 2026. Fidelity Advisor Value Fund is a fund of Fidelity Advisor Series I, a Trust that is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company organized as a Massachusetts business trust. Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC (FMR) serves as investment manager. Travelport Finance (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l. operates as a subsidiary of Travelport Holdings Ltd. =========================== U N I T E D K I N G D O M =========================== BRIDGEGATE FUNDING: S&P Assigns Prelim BB+ (sf) Rating to F Notes ----------------------------------------------------------------- S&P Global Ratings assigned preliminary credit ratings to Bridgegate Funding PLC's class A to X notes. At closing, the issuer will issue unrated class Z and R notes, a residual certificate, and S1 and S2 certificates. The portfolio comprises a mix of owner-occupied and buy-to-let (BTL) mortgage loans. Of the portfolio approximately 63% was previously securitized in the Deva Financing PLC transaction which redeemed in 2021. The remaining 37% of the loans were never securitized and were kept by the seller on its books. At closing, the seller (The Mortgage Business Public Limited Company; TMB) following the Mortgage Sale Agreement, will sell the loans and their related security comprising the portfolio of assets to the issuer in exchange for the consideration. The issuer will grant security over all its assets in the security trustee's favor. The pool is well seasoned. All of the loans are first-lien U.K. loans (either owner-occupied and BTL residential mortgage loans). The loans are secured on properties in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland and were mostly originated between 2006 and 2008. Of the pool, 91% of loans are interest-only, and 12.6% of the mortgage loans are currently in arrears greater than (or equal to) one month (these include loans considered as defaulted for the purposes of our analysis). The transaction has a general reserve fund and a liquidity reserve fund which is funded from the issuance proceeds of the class R notes. The transaction has no rating constraints under S&P's counterparty, operational risk, or structured finance sovereign risk criteria. S&P expects the issuer to be bankruptcy remote in accordance with our legal criteria. S&P said, "We expect inflation to continue to be high in the U.K. in 2023. Although high inflation is overall credit negative for all borrowers, inevitably some borrowers will be more negatively affected than others and to the extent inflationary pressures materialize more quickly or more severely than currently expected, risks may emerge. Borrowers in this transaction are largely paying a floating rate of interest (standard variable rate or tracker). As a result, they will feel the effect of rising cost of living pressures. We have considered these risks in our loan characteristic and originator adjustments. Based on our most recent macroeconomic forecasts, we have also maintained our mortgage market outlook for the U.K. to reflect uncertain economic conditions and increased credit risk. These continue to affect our 'B' foreclosure frequency assumptions for the archetypal pool (see "Residential Mortgage Market Outlooks Maintained For 15 European Jurisdictions Following Revised Economic Forecasts," published on April 28, 2022). We have also performed sensitivities related to higher levels of defaults in our cash flow analysis and the assigned preliminary ratings remain robust to these sensitivities." Preliminary Ratings CLASS PRELIM. RATING* A AAA (sf) B AA+ (sf) C-Dfrd AA- (sf) D-Dfrd A (sf) E-Dfrd BBB+ (sf) F-Dfrd BB+ (sf) X BBB- (sf) Z NR R NR Residual certificate NR S1 certificate NR S2 certificate NR NR--Not rated. BRITISHVOLT: In Talks to Sell Majority Stake for GBP150MM+ ---------------------------------------------------------- Peter Campbell and Harry Dempsey at The Financial Times report that Britishvolt is in talks to sell a majority stake to a consortium of investors for more than GBP150 million, offering a potential lifeline to the troubled UK battery manufacturer. The potential buyers, led by an international pension fund, have made an offer to Britishvolt's existing shareholders, which include FTSE 100 mining company Glencore and equipment rental group Ashtead as well as its founders, to take control of the business, the FT relays, citing several people. Shareholders have until Friday, Jan. 13, to approve the offer, according to two people, but some have objected to a deal they believe undervalues the company and dilutes current investors, the FT discloses. According to the FT, people with knowledge of the discussions said the new investors are proposing to put in GBP30 million upfront and a further GBP128 million over the year, which would give Britishvolt time to secure the much-needed orders from carmakers for its technology. The funding would also allow the business to make further developments to its prototype battery cells, which it must do to convince carmakers to buy its batteries, the FT states. The start-up has been on the hunt for funds for months after narrowly avoiding administration last year by raising several million pounds from Glencore and imposing temporary wage cuts on staff, the FT recounts. The company said on Jan. 9 it was "in discussions with a consortium of investors concerning the potential majority sale of the company", the FT relates. The consortium that is looking to invest also provided money to the business late last year, according to two people. "The discussions aim to secure legally binding terms that would provide Britishvolt with the long-term sustainability and funding necessary to enable it to pursue its current plans to build a strong and viable battery cell R&D and manufacturing business in the UK," the FT quotes the company as saying. Britishvolt declined to name the investors involved, the FT notes. The "two parties will provide further details at the appropriate time and have nothing further to add at this stage," it said. The group's plans to build a GBP3.8 billion battery gigafactory in north-east England has been beset by delays and funding issues, throwing into doubt the UK's ambition to create a homegrown battery champion, the FT states. Britishvolt, founded in 2019, has been promised GBP100 million in funding from the UK government but must begin construction work on the site in Blyth, Northumberland to unlock the money, the FT discloses. Britishvolt has been pleading with the government for a tranche of the GBP100 million in funding to be delivered sooner at a time when raising capital has become harder for UK companies because of the economic downturn, the FT sys. Last November, the group came close to collapse as its cash pile dwindled, but was saved by an emergency injection from Glencore, giving the group breathing space to find more investment, the FT recounts. Britishvolt's largest shareholder is co-founder Orral Nadjari, who left as chief executive in August, with Peter Rolton, a former government energy adviser, taking over, the FT relays. BYRON BURGER: Owner Seeks to Sell Business via Administration ------------------------------------------------------------- James Hansen at London Eater reports that Byron Burger is once again staring into the chain restaurant abyss, as its current owner seeks to offload the beleaguered burger group, via an administration process that could result in restaurant closures and job losses. Famously Proper, the current parent company of both Byron and fried chicken brand Mother Clucker, has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators, according to the Business Desk; the possibility of a sale was first rumoured in November of last year, London Eater relates. According to London Eater, if a business files such a notice, it allows it to pursue various options -- including a so-called "pre-pack administration," in which a buyer would acquire Byron's assets, but not its liabilities and debts -- without any people or business to whom it owes money taking action. This administration would be the third in just over four years for Byron, which was most famous first for opening a chain whose restaurants had their own identities, and then for assisting the Home Office in an ambush immigration raid on its own employees, London Eater notes. While the COVID-19 pandemic definitely prompted the 2020 auction of the brand, and ensuing administration, its longer term troubles are symptomatic of a private equity chain restaurant bubble that decisively burst between 2018 and 2020, London Eater states. COMET BIDCO: GBP315M Bank Debt Trades at 29% Discount ----------------------------------------------------- Participations in a syndicated loan under which Comet Bidco Ltd is a borrower were trading in the secondary market around 70.8 cents-on-the-dollar during the week ended Friday, January 6, 2023, according to Bloomberg's Evaluated Pricing service data. The GBP315 million facility is a Term loan that is scheduled to mature on October 6, 2024. The amount is fully drawn and outstanding. Comet Bidco Limited provides connectivity and business-critical insight across communities of buyers and sellers. The Company uses range of exhibitions, conferences, trade shows, and websites to target new business, demonstrate their products, build relationship with their clients, and identify new opportunities for performance improvement. The Company's country of domicile is the United Kingdom. CONSTELLATION AUTOMOTIVE: Prudential GTRFI Marks $6.8M Loan at 22% ------------------------------------------------------------------ Prudential Global Total Return Fund, Inc. has marked its $6,850,000 loan extended to Constellation Automotive Group Ltd to market at $5,361,433 or 78% of the outstanding amount, as of October 31, 2022, according to a disclosure contained Prudential GTRFI's Form 485BPOS for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 29, 2022. Prudential GTRFI extended a Facility B2 Loan to Constellation Automotive Group Ltd. The loan carries 5.9% interest (SONIA + 4.750%) and is scheduled to mature on July 28, 2028. Prudential GTRFI is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company. The RIC is organized as a Maryland Corporation. CAG operates the UK's and Europe's largest digital used vehicle exchanges (both business-to-business and consumer-to-business) and is a provider of automotive solutions in the UK, including vehicle movement, logistics, storage, pre-delivery inspections, fleet management, de-fleeting services and refurbishment. CRUSSH: Set to Enter Into Administration Following Major Losses --------------------------------------------------------------- According to Foodservice Equipment Journal's Joshua Walton, healthy food and juice brand Crussh is reportedly due to enter into administration after seeing significant losses across the chain in its last financial update. The London-based group, which operates sites in the capital and the South East of England, has filed a notice to the courts outlining its plans to appoint administrators to the company, Foodservice Equipment Journal relates. The company, which is led by CEO Simon Foster and backed by Hattington Capital, also sells its products through large UK retailers. Last month, the chain was in talks with FRP Advisory about its options, with first round bids for the company being sought by Dec. 23, Foodservice Equipment Journal relays, citing Propel. Crussh's latest financial statement showed that the brand had seen a large dip in sales between 2020 and 2021, dropping from GBP14.1 million to GBP2.9 million during this period, Foodservice Equipment Journal discloses. The company reported that it made a GBP2.8 million loss between 2020 and 2021, Foodservice Equipment Journal notes. GREENSILL BANK: Credit Suisse Launches Legal Action --------------------------------------------------- Helen Cahill at The Times reports that Credit Suisse has launched a legal action to protect its clients from costs stemming from Greensill Bank's administration. According to The Times, the Zurich-based lender alleges that the administrator handling the German bank's insolvency has breached an agreement to hand over proceeds from insurance claims to Credit Suisse funds that sustained heavy losses as the businesses of Lex Greensill, the Greensill founder, unwound. Credit Suisse funds are still trying to recoup about US$2.6 billion after building up an exposure of $10 billion to Greensill in the years leading up to its collapse, The Times notes. Greensill fell into administration in March 2021 and the insolvency revealed that David Cameron, the former prime minister, lobbied government officials to secure contracts for the firm, The Times recounts. Credit Suisse has sued the German lender and its administrator, The Times discloses. SINGLETON'S DAIRY: Owed Almost GBP4MM at Time of Administration --------------------------------------------------------------- Jon Robinson at BusinessLive reports that a historic cheese maker, which owed almost GBP4 million to its creditors when it collapsed into administration with the loss of almost 70 jobs, has been sold. According to BusinessLive, Singleton's Dairy, which is based in Longridge, Lancashire, has been acquired by Inglewhite-based Carron Lodge for an undisclosed sum. Trading as Singletons & Co, the company has handcrafted cheeses for more than 80 years but entered administration in August, with the loss of 69 roles, BusinessLive recounts. According to a document filed with Companies House by administrators Kroll, Singleton's Dairy owed over GBP2.9 million to unsecured creditors when the firm was appointed, BusinessLive notes. It also owed more than GBP97,000 to preferential creditors, almost GBP440,000 to the pension fund and over GBP280,000 to its secured creditor, Close Brothers, BusinessLive states. In the document, Kroll added that the debt to Close Brothers had now been settled in full, according to BusinessLive. On how the business entered administration, Kroll, as cited by BusinessLive, said: "The company historically traded profitably, however in 2018 it lost its distribution rights to a third-party product which significantly impacted trade. "This resulted in losses of c.GBP629,000 and c.GBP1,1800,000 in the subsequent financial years. "The financial difficulties worsened as a result of the impact of Covid-19, as well as the rising costs of milk, and in August 2022 the directors instructed Kroll to consider the contingency options available to the company and market the business for sale on an accelerated basis. "A number of parties expressed interest in the business but no offers were received." WILD BEER: Curious Brewery Acquires Parts of Business ----------------------------------------------------- Hannah Baker at BristolLive reports that Wild Beer Co, the popular West Country brewery that collapsed into administration in December, has agreed to a deal with a Kent-based brewery that will save a handful of jobs. Curious Brewery in Ashworth has bought the beer, brands and intellectual property of Wild Beer Co, which also has a taproom -- Wild Beer -- at Bristol's Wapping Wharf, BristolLive discloses. According to BristolLive, the founders said last month they were "heartbroken" their business had entered administration after facing "adverse trading conditions", including Covid, the loss of export sales, spiralling production costs, soaring inflation, and an increase of interest rates. Wild Beer's Bristol taproom has continued to trade since last month's announcement, writing on Instagram at the time: "All reservations are still honoured . . . please come and support us, there is still beer flowing and much alcohol to enjoy!" The transaction does not include the taproom, but five people people will transfer across under the agreement, BristolLive states. It is not clear yet what will happen to Wild Beer Co's brewery in Somerset, BristolLive notes. ********* S U B S C R I P T I O N I N F O R M A T I O N Troubled Company Reporter-Europe is a daily newsletter co- published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, D.C., USA. Marites O. Claro, Rousel Elaine T. Fernandez, Joy A. Agravante, Julie Anne L. Toledo, Ivy B. Magdadaro, and Peter A. Chapman, Editors. Copyright 2023. All rights reserved. ISSN 1529-2754. This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, resale or publication in any form (including e-mail forwarding, electronic re-mailing and photocopying) is strictly prohibited without prior written permission of the publishers. Information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed. The TCR Europe subscription rate is US$775 per half-year, delivered via e-mail. Additional e-mail subscriptions for members of the same firm for the term of the initial subscription or balance thereof are US$25 each. For subscription information, contact Peter Chapman at 215-945-7000. * * * End of Transmission * * *