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       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, May 30, 2023, Vol. 24, No. 108

                           Headlines



F R A N C E

HOMEVI SAS: Moody's Cuts CFR to B3 & Sr. Secured Term Loan to Caa1


G E R M A N Y

PROXES GMBH: EUR20M Bank Debt Trades at 27% Discount
TUI AG: Moody's Upgrades CFR to B2, Outlook Remains Positive


I R E L A N D

CVC CORDATUS XXVII: Fitch Gives Final 'B-sf' Rating on Cl. F Notes
CVC CORDATUS XXVII: S&P Assigns B- Rating on Class F Notes


I T A L Y

BRISCA SECURITIZATION: DBRS Confirms CCC Rating on Class A Notes
ITA: Lufthansa to Take 41% Stake Via EUR325MM Capital Increase
RENO DE MEDICI: Moody's Affirms 'B2' CFR & Alters Outlook to Stable


L U X E M B O U R G

ARMORICA LUX: EUR335M Bank Debt Trades at 18% Discount
MALLINCKRODT INT'L: Moody's Cuts CFR to Caa1, Outlook Neg.
SK NEPTUNE: $610M Bank Debt Trades at 25% Discount
TRINSEO MATERIALS: $750M Bank Debt Trades at 18% Discount


N E T H E R L A N D S

JUBILEE PLACE 3: Moody's Affirms B1 Rating on EUR13.11MM X1 Notes
SPRINT BIDCO: Fitch Alters Outlook on 'B' LongTerm IDR to Negative
VECHT RESIDENTIAL 2023-1: Moody's Assigns Caa2 Rating to X1 Notes
VECHT RESIDENTIAL 2023-1: S&P Assigns BB Rating on Class X1 Notes


S P A I N

BERING III: S&P Lowers ICR to 'CCC+', Outlook Negative
CIRSA ENTERPRISES: S&P Raises ICR to 'B', Outlook Positive


S W I T Z E R L A N D

CREDIT SUISSE: UBS Wins EU Antitrust Approval to Acquire Bank
PEACH PROPERTY: Moody's Cuts CFR to Ba3, Outlook Remains Negative


U N I T E D   K I N G D O M

BULB: Costs of Administration Expected to Reach Around GBP60MM
NORIA 2018-1: DBRS Confirms C Rating on Class G Notes
PIERPONT BTL 2023-1: Moody's Assigns B1 Rating to GBP2MM X Notes
PIERPONT BTL 2023-1: S&P Assigns BB+ Rating on E-Dfrd Notes
RAEDEX: Tycoon Allegedly Withheld Information From Fraud Probe

VODAFONE GROUP: S&P Rates EUR1.3BB Sub. Hybrid Securities 'BB+'
[*] UNITED KINGDOM: Insolvency Risk to Spread to Larger Companies

                           - - - - -


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F R A N C E
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HOMEVI SAS: Moody's Cuts CFR to B3 & Sr. Secured Term Loan to Caa1
------------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the corporate family
rating to B3 from B2 and the probability of default rating to B3-PD
from B2-PD of HomeVi S.a.S. (DomusVi or the company); the second
largest provider of elderly care services in France and the largest
operator in Spain. Concurrently, Moody's has downgraded to Caa1
from B3 the instrument ratings of (1) the senior secured term loan
B of EUR1,170 million due in October 2026, (2) the senior secured
term loan B2 of EUR800 million due in October 2026, and (3) the
senior secured revolving credit facility (RCF) of EUR190 million
due in April 2026. The outlook remains stable.

RATINGS RATIONALE

The rating action reflects the deterioration in DomusVi's credit
metrics due to cost inflation and the time lag in passing through
price increases. It also reflects tightening liquidity because cash
flow generation will not be sufficient to cover debt amortizing in
2023 and 2024, although liquidity is still adequate at this stage.
Moody's expects the company to take actions in a timely manner to
address its liquidity if needed. Liquidity management and execution
will therefore be a key area of focus over the coming 12-18 months.
These are part of financial strategy and risk management, which is
a governance consideration under Moody's ESG framework and a key
driver for the rating action. Moody's understands that the company
has already secured EUR40 million of committed bank financing to
cover part of debt amortization in 2023.

Moody's expects higher accommodation daily rates, continued
recovery in occupancy rates, new openings and cost efficiencies to
support a reduction in Moody's-adjusted debt/EBITDA towards 8.0x
over the next 12-18 months from 8.7x at year-end 2022. This level
of leverage will remain high for the rating category, with further
reduction needed for the B3 CFR to be more adequately positioned.
Moody's forecasts Moody's-adjusted EBITA/interest to remain at
around 1.5x, reflecting the company interest hedging strategy until
2026. As of end of February 2023, occupancy rates and accommodation
daily rates were 1.8 percentage points and 7.8% higher than the
same period last year.

Debt amortization of around EUR80 million and EUR70 million in 2023
and 2024 respectively will weaken liquidity because of limited cash
flow generation due to high level of development capex, including
relocation and new openings. Moody's expects Moody's-adjusted free
cash flow to remain negative at around EUR50 million in 2023 before
turning slightly positive at around EUR20 million in 2024. These
cash flow forecasts are before capex financing and increase in
share capital that Moody's forecasts at around EUR70 million in
aggregate per annum. As of year-end 2022, the company had cash
balances of EUR75 million and EUR90 million available under the
senior secured RCF (excluding EUR20 million of undrawn bilateral
financing). The company also owns real estate assets worth up to
EUR1.2 billion, of which around EUR700 million of freehold
properties, which could be sold and leased back to support
liquidity if needed.

More positively, the B3 rating is supported by the company's strong
position in the French and Spanish nursing care markets; its
improving geographic diversification following the entry in Germany
in 2021; high and growing demand for dependent care, driven by an
ageing population; and high barriers to entry and regulatory limits
on new care facilities.

LIQUIDITY

DomusVi has adequate liquidity, although the buffer will reduce
over the next 12-18 months because cash flow generation will not be
enough to cover debt amortization. Moody's expects the company to
take actions in a timely manner to address its liquidity if needed,
including new capex financing. As of December 31, 2022, the company
had cash balances of EUR75 million and EUR90 million available
under the senior secured RCF (excluding EUR20 million of undrawn
bilateral financing). The senior secured RCF and senior secured
term loans mature in April 2026 and October 2026 respectively but
there are EUR80 million and EUR70 million of other financial debt
amortizing in 2023 and 2024 respectively including bilateral credit
facilities and real estate debt.

The senior secured RCF is subject to a springing maintenance
covenant, tested quarterly if the senior secured RCF is drawn by
40%, which limits senior secured net leverage to 9.75x. The ratio
was 5.9x as of December 2022.

STRUCTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

The Caa1 rating of the senior secured RCF and senior secured term
loans, one notch below the B3 CFR, reflect their structural
subordination to operating companies' liabilities, including
significant operating leases, because of the absence of guarantees
from operating subsidiaries and a weak security package comprising
pledges on shares, bank accounts and intercompany loans. The B3-PD
probability of default rating, in line with the B3 CFR, reflects
Moody's typical 50% corporate family recovery rate assumption for a
first-lien bank debt structure only with a springing covenant.

RATIONALE FOR THE STABLE OUTLOOK

The stable outlook reflects Moody's expectation that DomusVi's
margins and earnings will start recovering over the next 12-18
months, leading to Moody's-adjusted debt/EBITDA reducing towards
8.0x; Moody's-adjusted EBITA/interest of around 1.5x; and positive
Moody's-adjusted free cash flow from 2024. It also assumes that the
company will take actions in a timely manner to support liquidity
if needed.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS

The ratings could be upgraded if a recovery in margins and earnings
lead to Moody's-adjusted debt/EBITDA comfortably below 7.0x on a
sustained basis (based on the company's rent multiple of around
7x); Moody's-adjusted EBITA/interest rising towards 2.0x; and the
maintenance of a solid liquidity profile including positive free
cash flow.

The ratings could be downgraded if the company fails to recover its
margins and earnings over the next 12-18 months, such that
liquidity concerns emerge or the capital structure could become
untenable. Quantitatively, this could be evidenced by:
Moody's-adjusted debt/EBITDA remaining above 8.0x on a sustained
basis; Moody's-adjusted EBITA/interest falling towards 1.0x; or
negative Moody's-adjusted free cash flow.

PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY

The principal methodology used in these ratings was Business and
Consumer Services published in November 2021.

COMPANY PROFILE

HomeVi S.a.S. (DomusVi) is the second-largest operator of nursing
homes in France and the largest operator of nursing homes and
mental care facilities in Spain. It also has a presence in Portugal
and, more recently, in Ireland and Germany. The company, which
generated revenue of EUR2.2 billion in 2022, is majority owned by
funds advised by Intermediate Capital Group plc alongside Sagesse
Retraite Sante (SRS; the investment vehicle of founder Yves
Journel).




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G E R M A N Y
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PROXES GMBH: EUR20M Bank Debt Trades at 27% Discount
----------------------------------------------------
Participations in a syndicated loan under which ProXES GmbH is a
borrower were trading in the secondary market around 73.2
cents-on-the-dollar during the week ended Friday, May 26, 2023,
according to Bloomberg's Evaluated Pricing service data.

The EUR20 million facility is a Term loan that is scheduled to
mature on July 15, 2023.  The amount is fully drawn and
outstanding.

ProXES GmbH designs and manufactures industrial machinery. The
Company offers food processing, pharmaceutical, and health-care
technologies. The Company’s country of domicile is Germany.


TUI AG: Moody's Upgrades CFR to B2, Outlook Remains Positive
------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service upgraded TUI AG's corporate family rating
to B2 from B3 and the probability of default rating to B2-PD from
B3-PD. The outlook remains positive.

RATINGS RATIONALE

The rating action reflects TUI's improved credit metrics and
strengthened balance sheet and liquidity following the completion
of its right issue, which raised around EUR1.8 billion, and the
extension of its RCF maturities to July 2026 from July 2024.
Moody's expects continued earnings improvement on the back of the
strong summer bookings to facilitate further de-leverage.

TUI demonstrated material reduction in its reliance on the support
measures provided by the German state during the coronavirus
pandemic. The company used the proceeds from the capital increase
to fully repay the stabilization measures granted by the German
Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF) and to reduce its utilization
under its RCFs, and also reduced the Kreditanstalt fuer
Wiederaufbau (KfW) credit line commitment to EUR1.1 billion from
EUR2.1 billion.

Pro forma for the capital increase, Moody's adjusted leverage for
the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022 (fiscal 2022) declines to
around 4.4x from 5.2x. The debt repayment and the lower use of RCF
drawings will also reduce interest costs and improve TUI's interest
coverage ratio and operating cash flow.

TUI announced on May 10 its second quarter trading performance with
revenues significantly above Q2 2022 and 2% above Q2 2019. The
company benefited from growth in all segments reflecting the
continued strong pricing and leisure travel demand. On the back of
the solid H1 trading performance and robust bookings for summer
2023, up 13% on the prior year with higher prices, Moody's expects
earnings to continue to improve this year. As a result Moody's
forecasts Moody's adjusted leverage to decline towards 3.0x in
fiscal 2023.  However, uncertainties around the pace of
improvements beyond fiscal 2023 remain given the current
macroeconomic weakness.  The decline in consumers' disposable
income exposes TUI to cutbacks in discretionary spend such as
holidays, and further flight disruptions pose additional downside
risks. Moody's adjusted FCF will also likely remain limited over
the next 12-18 months as capex investments and lease payments will
continue to constrain TUI's cash flows.

TUI's leading market position as the largest integrated tourism
company in the world with a diversified business profile in terms
of source markets, travel destinations and product offerings
continues to support its rating. However, the low profitability of
its tour operator segment, which is structurally challenged by pure
online competitors, and the inherent execution risks with the
company's ongoing shift to a more asset-light and digitalised
business model, constrain the rating.

OUTLOOK

The positive outlook reflects Moody's expectation that TUI's credit
metrics will continue to improve on the back of continued
supportive market demand which should reduce Moody's adjusted
leverage to below 3.0x over the next 12-18 months. The outlook also
reflects Moody's expectation that TUI will maintain solid
liquidity.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS

The successful completion of the rights issue represents continued
execution of TUI's strategy since the COVID-19 outbreak to return
to its historical financial metrics with a gross leverage target of
less than 3.0x, and, together with the RCF extension, bolsters
liquidity. With the latest EUR1.8 billion rights issue Moody's
expects the company to reach its leverage target over the next
quarters. Furthermore, Moody's expects TUI to refrain from any
re-initiation of dividend payments before 2026.

LIQUIDITY

Moody's views TUI's liquidity as adequate. As of March 31, 2023,
TUI had liquidity of around EUR3.0 billion, comprising around
EUR0.9 billion of unrestricted cash, complemented by around EUR2.1
billion of undrawn RCFs out of EUR3.6 billion in total commitments.
Following the completion of the capital increase, the company
repaid a large proportion of its drawn RCF and reduced its total
RCFs commitments to EUR2.6 billion. The seasonality of the business
exposes TUI to large working capital swings with cash outflows
during the low season ranging between EUR1.5 billion and EUR2
billion historically, which makes access to ample liquidity from
some combination of cash and RCF essential to its operations. The
current liquidity is sufficient to cover the company's cash needs
and with the additional cash proceeds from the rights issue Moody's
expects lower usage of RCFs going forward.

The company's financial covenants have been waived since the
pandemic but started to be tested from the end of September 2022.
Between September 2022 and March 2023, the covenant tests have been
adjusted with looser triggers — net leverage 2.25x — before
reverting to pre-pandemic levels — net leverage 2.5x. The company
is expected to remain compliant with its covenants.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS

Positive rating pressure could develop if Moody's adjusted EBITA/
Interest improves to above 2x; the company maintains solid
liquidity with a cash balance of at least EUR1.5 billion; Moody's
adjusted FCF/debt increases to above 5% on a sustained basis; and
Moody's adjusted gross debt/ EBITDA declines to below 3.5x on a
sustained basis. An upgrade would also require a track record in
maintaining its commitment to a gross leverage target of less than
3.0x with prudent liquidity management, as well as evidence of
traction with the company's ongoing shift to a more asset-light,
digital business model.

Negative rating pressure could arise if Moody's adjusted gross
debt/ EBITDA remains sustainably above 5x; Moody's adjusted EBITA/
Interest remains sustainably below 1.5x; or the liquidity
deteriorates including sustained negative FCF.

PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY

The principal methodology used in these ratings was Business and
Consumer Services published in November 2021.

COMPANY PROFILE

TUI AG, headquartered in Hannover, Germany, is the world's largest
integrated tourism group. Before the pandemic, the company serviced
21 million customers across 180 regions under its Markets &
Airlines segment. In fiscal 2022, the company generated revenue of
EUR16.5 billion and underlying EBIT of EUR409 million. TUI is
listed on the Frankfurt, Hannover and London stock exchanges.




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I R E L A N D
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CVC CORDATUS XXVII: Fitch Gives Final 'B-sf' Rating on Cl. F Notes
------------------------------------------------------------------
Fitch Ratings has assigned CVC Cordatus Loan Fund XXVII DAC final
ratings.

   Entity/Debt            Rating                   Prior
   -----------            ------                   -----
CVC Cordatus
Loan Fund
XXVII DAC

   A XS2610237179     LT AAAsf  New Rating    AAA(EXP)sf

   B-1 XS2610237336   LT AAsf   New Rating    AA(EXP)sf

   B-2 XS2610237500   LT AAsf   New Rating    AA(EXP)sf

   C XS2610237765     LT Asf    New Rating    A(EXP)sf

   D-1 XS2610237922   LT BBBsf  New Rating    BBB(EXP)sf

   D-2 XS2610238144   LT BBB-sf New Rating    BBB-(EXP)sf

   E XS2610238490     LT BB-sf  New Rating    BB-(EXP)sf

   F XS2610238656     LT B-sf   New Rating    B-(EXP)sf

   Sub Notes
   XS2610238813       LT NRsf   New Rating    NR(EXP)sf

TRANSACTION SUMMARY

The CVC Cordatus Loan Fund XXVII DAC is a securitisation of mainly
(at least 90%) senior secured obligations with a component of
senior unsecured, mezzanine, second lien loans and high-yield
bonds. Proceeds have been used to purchase a portfolio with a
target par of EUR450 million. The portfolio is actively managed by
CVC Credit Partners Investment Management Limited (CVC) and the
collateralised loan obligation (CLO) has an approximately four-year
reinvestment period and a seven-year weighted average life (WAL)
test.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Average Portfolio Credit Quality (Neutral): Fitch assesses the
average credit quality of obligors at 'B'/'B-'. The Fitch weighted
average rating factor (WARF) of the identified portfolio is 25.2.

High Recovery Expectations (Positive): At least 90% of the
portfolio will comprise senior secured obligations. Fitch views the
recovery prospects for these assets as more favourable than for
second lien, unsecured and mezzanine assets. The Fitch weighted
average recovery rate (WARR) of the identified portfolio is 60.6%.

Diversified Portfolio (Positive): The transaction includes two
Fitch matrices, which will be effective at closing, corresponding
to a top-10 obligor concentration limit at 20%, fixed-rate asset
limit at 10% and 15% and a seven-year WAL test.

The transaction also includes various concentration limits,
including the maximum exposure to the three-largest Fitch-defined
industries in the portfolio at 40%. These covenants ensure that the
asset portfolio will not be exposed to excessive concentration.

Portfolio Management (Neutral): The transaction has an
approximately four-year reinvestment period and includes
reinvestment criteria similar to those of other European
transactions.

Fitch's analysis is based on a stressed-case portfolio with the aim
of testing the robustness of the transaction structure against its
covenants and portfolio guidelines. The transaction could extend
the WAL test by one year on the date that is one year from closing,
if the aggregate collateral balance (defaulted obligations at the
lower of their market value and Fitch recovery rate) is at least at
the target par and if the transaction is passing all its tests.

Cash Flow Modelling (Positive): The WAL for the transaction's
stressed-case portfolio analysis is 12 months less than the WAL
covenant. This is to account for the strict reinvestment conditions
envisaged by the transaction after its reinvestment period, which
include passing the coverage tests, the Fitch WARF test and the
Fitch 'CCC' bucket limitation test, as well as a WAL covenant that
progressively steps down, before and after the end of the
reinvestment period. Fitch believes these conditions would reduce
the effective risk horizon of the portfolio during the stress
period.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Negative
Rating Action/Downgrade

A 25% increase of the mean default rate (RDR) and a 25% decrease of
the recovery rate (RRR) across all ratings of the identified
portfolio would have no impact on the class A notes, but would lead
to a downgrade of no more than one notch to the class B, D-1 and
D-2 notes; two notches to the class C notes; three notches to the
class E notes; and to below ´B-sf' for the class F notes.

Downgrades, which are based on the identified portfolio, may occur
if the loss expectation is larger than initially assumed, due to
unexpectedly high levels of defaults and portfolio deterioration.
Due to their better metrics than the Fitch-stressed portfolio, the
rated notes display a rating cushion to a downgrade of up to two
notches.

Should the cushion between the identified portfolio and the
Fitch-stressed portfolio be eroded due to manager trading
post-reinvestment period or negative portfolio credit migration, a
25% increase of the mean RDR and a 25% decrease of the RRR across
all ratings of the Fitch-stressed portfolio would result in
downgrades of up to four notches for the class A to D notes and to
below 'B-sf' for the class E and F notes.

Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Positive
Rating Action/Upgrade

A 25% reduction of the mean RDR and a 25% increase in the RRR
across all ratings of the Fitch-stressed portfolio would lead to
upgrades of up to three notches for the rated notes, except for the
'AAAsf' rated notes.

During the reinvestment period, based on the Fitch-stressed
portfolio, upgrades may occur on better-than-expected portfolio
credit quality and a shorter remaining WAL test, allowing the notes
to withstand larger-than-expected losses for the remaining life of
the transaction. After the end of the reinvestment period, upgrades
may occur on stable portfolio credit quality and deleveraging,
leading to higher credit enhancement and excess spread available to
cover losses in the remaining portfolio.

DATA ADEQUACY

The majority of the underlying assets or risk-presenting entities
have ratings or credit opinions from Fitch and/or other nationally
recognised statistical rating organisations and/or European
securities and markets authority-registered rating agencies. Fitch
has relied on the practices of the relevant groups within Fitch
and/or other rating agencies to assess the asset portfolio
information or information on the risk-presenting entities.

Overall, and together with any assumptions referred to above,
Fitch's assessment of the information relied upon for the agency's
rating analysis according to its applicable rating methodologies
indicates that it is adequately reliable.


CVC CORDATUS XXVII: S&P Assigns B- Rating on Class F Notes
----------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings assigned credit ratings to CVC Cordatus Loan
Fund XXVII DAC's class A, B-1, B-2, C, D-1, D-2, E, and F notes.
The issuer also issued unrated subordinated notes.

The ratings reflect S&P's assessment of:

-- The diversified collateral pool, which primarily comprises
broadly syndicated speculative-grade senior secured term loans and
bonds that are governed by collateral quality tests.

-- The credit enhancement provided through the subordination of
cash flows, excess spread, and overcollateralization.

-- The collateral manager's experienced team, which can affect the
performance of the rated notes through collateral selection,
ongoing portfolio management, and trading.

-- The transaction's legal structure, which is bankruptcy remote.

-- The transaction's counterparty risks, which are in line with
S&P's counterparty rating framework.

  Portfolio Benchmarks

                                                        CURRENT

  S&P weighted-average rating factor                    2923.94

  Default rate dispersion                                468.82

  Weighted-average life (years)                            4.58

  Obligor diversity measure                              136.98

  Industry diversity measure                              23.07

  Regional diversity measure                               1.18


  Transaction Key Metrics

                                                        CURRENT

  Portfolio weighted-average rating
  derived from S&P's CDO evaluator                            B

  'CCC' category rated assets (%)                          1.35

  Covenanted 'AAA' weighted-average recovery (%)          34.89

  Covenanted weighted-average spread (%)                   4.10

  Covenanted weighted-average coupon (%)                   4.50


Rating rationale

Under the transaction documents, the rated notes will pay quarterly
interest unless a frequency switch event occurs. Following this,
the notes will switch to semiannual payments. The portfolio's
reinvestment period will end four years after closing.

The portfolio is well-diversified, primarily comprising broadly
syndicated speculative-grade senior-secured term loans and
senior-secured bonds. Therefore, S&P has conducted its credit and
cash flow analysis by applying its criteria for corporate cash flow
CDOs.

S&P said, "In our cash flow analysis, we used the EUR450.00 million
target par amount, the covenanted weighted-average spread (4.10%),
the covenanted weighted-average coupon (4.50%), and covenanted
weighted-average recovery rates (WARR) at the 'AAA' rating level,
and actual WARR for other rating levels. We applied various cash
flow stress scenarios, using four different default patterns, in
conjunction with different interest rate stress scenarios for each
liability rating category.

"Under our structured finance sovereign risk criteria, we consider
that the transaction's exposure to country risk is sufficiently
mitigated at the assigned ratings.

"Until the end of the reinvestment period on May 25, 2027, the
collateral manager may substitute assets in the portfolio for so
long as our CDO Monitor test is maintained or improved in relation
to the initial ratings on the notes. This test looks at the total
amount of losses that the transaction can sustain as established by
the initial cash flows for each rating, and it compares that with
the current portfolio's default potential plus par losses to date.
As a result, until the end of the reinvestment period, the
collateral manager may through trading deteriorate the
transaction's current risk profile, as long as the initial ratings
are maintained.

"The transaction's documented counterparty replacement and remedy
mechanisms adequately mitigate its exposure to counterparty risk
under our current counterparty criteria.

"The transaction's legal structure and framework is bankruptcy
remote, in line with our legal criteria.

"Following our analysis of the credit, cash flow, counterparty,
operational, and legal risks, we believe our ratings are
commensurate with the available credit enhancement for the class A
to F notes. Our credit and cash flow analysis indicates that the
available credit enhancement for the class B-1, B-2, C, D-2, and E
notes could withstand stresses commensurate with higher ratings
than those we have assigned. However, as the CLO will be in its
reinvestment phase starting from closing, during which the
transaction's credit risk profile could deteriorate, we have capped
our ratings assigned to the notes.

"Taking the above factors into account and following our analysis
of the credit, cash flow, counterparty, operational, and legal
risks, we believe that our ratings are commensurate with the
available credit enhancement for all the rated classes of notes.

"In addition to our standard analysis, to provide an indication of
how rising pressures among speculative-grade corporates could
affect our ratings on European CLO transactions, we have also
included the sensitivity of the ratings on the class A to E notes
four hypothetical scenarios.

"As our ratings analysis makes additional considerations before
assigning ratings in the 'CCC' category, and we would assign a 'B-'
rating if the criteria for assigning a 'CCC' category rating are
not met, we have not included the above scenario analysis results
for the class F notes."

The transaction securitizes a portfolio of primarily senior-secured
leveraged loans and bonds, and it is managed by CVC Credit Partners
Investment Management Ltd.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG)

S&P regards the exposure to ESG credit factors in the transaction
as being broadly in line with our benchmark for the sector.
Primarily due to the diversity of the assets within CLOs, the
exposure to environmental credit factors is viewed as below
average, social credit factors are below average, and governance
credit factors are average. For this transaction, the documents
prohibit assets from being related to certain activities,
including, but not limited to any obligor:

-- Involved in the manufacture of controversial weapons including
anti-personnel mines, cluster weapons, depleted uranium,
non-detectable fragments, incendiary weapons, blinding laser
weapons, incendiary weapons, nuclear weapons, white phosphorus,
biological, and chemical weapons;

-- Where more than 5% of its revenue is derived from weapons or
tailor-made components;

-- Where any revenue is derived from tobacco production such as
cigars, cigarettes, e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, dissolvable
and chewing tobacco and obligors where more than 5% of its revenue
is derived from products that contain tobacco or the whole trading
of these products;

-- That derives more than 5% of its revenue from the mining of
thermal coal, or which has expansion plans for coal extraction;

-- That derives more than 5% of its revenue from oil sands
extraction, or which has expansion plans for unconventional oil &
gas extraction;

-- That is an oil and gas producer which derives less than 40% of
its revenue from natural gas or renewables, or which has reserves
of less than 20% deriving from natural gas;

-- That derives more than 0% of its revenue from greenfield
investment in oil or coal;

-- That derives 10% or more of its revenues from non-sustainable
palm oil;

-- That derives 25% or more of its revenues from speculative
transactions of soft commodities;

-- That derives 50% or more of its revenues from the operation,
management, or provision of services to private prisons; or

-- Whose principal business is directly derived from ownership,
operation, or primary provision of integral services to physical
casinos and/or unregulated online gambling platforms that would be
in excess of 3% of the aggregate principal balance.

Accordingly, since the exclusion of assets from these industries
does not result in material differences between the transaction and
our ESG benchmark for the sector, no specific adjustments have been
made in our rating analysis to account for any ESG-related risks or
opportunities.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) corporate credit
indicators

S&P said, "The influence of ESG factors in our credit rating
analysis of European CLOs primarily depends on the influence of ESG
factors in our analysis of the underlying corporate obligors. To
provide additional disclosure and transparency of the influence of
ESG factors for the CLO asset portfolio in aggregate, we've
calculated the weighted-average and distributions of our ESG credit
indicators for the underlying obligors. We regard this
transaction's exposure as being broadly in line with our benchmark
for the sector, with the environmental and social credit indicators
concentrated primarily in category 2 (neutral) and the governance
credit indicators concentrated in category 3 (moderately
negative)."

  Corporate ESG Credit Indicators

                                 ENVIRONMENTAL  SOCIAL  GOVERNANCE

  Weighted-average credit indicator*     2.05    2.17    2.90

  E-1/S-1/G-1 distribution (%)           0.67    0.87    0.00

  E-2/S-2/G-2 distribution (%)          75.15   68.61   13.76

  E-3/S-3/G-3 distribution (%)           4.69    7.67   63.40

  E-4/S-4/G-4 distribution (%)           0.00    3.35    1.11

  E-5/S-5/G-5 distribution (%)           0.00    0.00    2.22

  Unmatched obligor (%)                 10.50   10.50   10.50

  Unidentified asset (%)                 9.00    9.00    9.00

  *Only includes matched obligor.

  Ratings list

  CLASS     RATING     AMOUNT     INTEREST RATE*     CREDIT
                     (MIL. EUR)                    ENHANCEMENT(%)

  A         AAA (sf)    274.50     3mE + 1.90%     39.00

  B-1       AA (sf)      23.00     3mE + 3.20%     29.00

  B-2       AA (sf)      22.00           7.00%     29.00

  C         A (sf)       27.00     3mE + 4.30%     23.00

  D-1       BBB+ (sf)    22.50     3mE + 5.90%     18.00

  D-2       BBB- (sf)     5.30     3mE + 6.58%     16.82

  E         BB- (sf)     19.40     3mE + 8.35%     12.51

  F         B- (sf)      14.40     3mE + 10.38%     9.31

  Subordinated  NR       34.20        N/A            N/A

*The payment frequency switches to semiannual and the index
switches to six-month EURIBOR when a frequency switch event occurs.

NR -- Not rated.
N/A -- Not applicable.
3mE -- Three-month Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR).




=========
I T A L Y
=========

BRISCA SECURITIZATION: DBRS Confirms CCC Rating on Class A Notes
----------------------------------------------------------------
DBRS Ratings GmbH took rating actions on the notes issued by Brisca
Securitization S.r.l. (the Issuer) as follows:

-- Class A Notes confirmed at CCC (sf) with a Negative trend
-- Class B Notes downgraded to C (sf) from CC (sf), trend changed
to Stable from Negative

The transaction represents the issuance of Class A, Class B, and
Class J Notes (collectively, the Notes). The rating on the Class A
Notes addresses the timely payment of interest and the ultimate
payment of principal on or before the legal final maturity date.
The rating on the Class B Notes addresses the ultimate payment of
principal and interest. DBRS Morningstar does not rate the Class J
Notes.

Given the characteristics of the Class B Notes, as defined in the
transaction documents, DBRS Morningstar notes that a default would
most likely only be recognized at transaction maturity or early
termination.

As of closing in July 2017, the Notes were backed by a EUR 961
million portfolio by gross book value, consisting of secured and
unsecured Italian nonperforming loans originated by Banca Carige
S.p.A., Banca Cesare Ponti S.p.A., and Banca del Monte di Lucca
S.p.A. (together, Gruppo Banca Carige). The majority of loans in
the portfolio defaulted between 2011 and 2016 and are in various
stages of resolution.

Prelios Credit Servicing S.p.A. (Prelios or the Servicer) services
the receivables while Banca Finanziaria Internazionale S.p.A.
(Banca Finint; formerly Securitization Services S.p.A.) operates as
the backup servicer.

RATING RATIONALE

The rating actions follow an annual review of the transaction and
are based on the following analytical considerations:

-- Transaction performance: An assessment of portfolio recoveries
as of November 30, 2022, focusing on: (1) a comparison between
actual collections and the Servicer's initial business plan
forecast; (2) the collection performance observed over recent
months; and (3) a comparison between the current performance and
DBRS Morningstar's expectations.

-- Business plan: The Servicer's updated business plan as of
November 2022, received in March 2023, and the comparison with the
initial collection expectations.

-- Portfolio characteristics: The loan pool composition as of
February 2023 and the evolution of its core features since
issuance.

-- Transaction liquidating structure: The order of priority
entails a fully sequential amortization of the Notes (i.e., the
Class B Notes will begin to amortize following the full repayment
of the Class A Notes and the Class J Notes will amortize following
the repayment of the Class B Notes). Additionally, interest
payments on the Class B Notes become subordinated to principal
payments on the Class A Notes if the cumulative net collection
ratio or net present value cumulative profitability ratio are lower
than 90%. The interest subordination event has been triggered since
the June 2022 interest payment date. According to the servicer, the
cumulative net collection ratio and net present value cumulative
profitability ratio were 78.29% and 109.81% respectively, in June
2022. In December 2022, those ratios were 70.70% and 108.81%,
respectively.

-- Liquidity support: The transaction benefits from an amortizing
cash reserve providing liquidity to the structure covering
potential interest shortfall on the Class A Notes and senior fees.
The cash reserve target amount is equal to 4% of the sum of the
Class A and Class B Notes' principal outstanding and is currently
fully funded.

TRANSACTION AND PERFORMANCE

According to the latest investor report from December 2022, the
outstanding principal amounts of the Class A, Class B, and Class J
Notes were EUR 103.3 million, EUR 30.5 million, and EUR 11.8
million, respectively. As of the December 2022 payment date, the
balance of the Class A Notes had amortized by 61.4% since issuance
and the current aggregated transaction balance was EUR 145.6
million.

As of November 2022, the transaction was performing below the
Servicer's initial business plan expectations. The actual
cumulative gross collections equaled EUR 227.1 million whereas the
Servicer's initial business plan estimated cumulative gross
collections of EUR 327.8 million for the same period. Therefore, as
of November 2022, the transaction was underperforming by EUR 100.7
million (-30.7%) compared with the initial business plan
expectations.

At issuance, DBRS Morningstar estimated cumulative gross
collections for the same period of EUR 265.7 million at the BBB
(high) (sf) stressed scenario and EUR 306.2 million at the B (low)
(sf) stressed scenario. Hence, the transaction is underperforming
DBRS Morningstar's initial stressed expectations.

Pursuant to the requirements set out in the receivable servicing
agreement, in March 2023, the Servicer delivered an updated
portfolio business plan. The updated portfolio business plan,
combined with the actual cumulative gross collections as of
November 2022, resulted in a total of EUR 316.6 million, which is
19.4% lower than the total gross disposition proceeds of EUR 393.0
million estimated in the initial business plan. Excluding actual
collections, the Servicer's expected future collections from
December 2022 account for EUR 89.6 million, which is less than the
current aggregated outstanding balance of the Class A Notes, and
expected to be realized over a longer period of time. In DBRS
Morningstar's CCC (sf) scenario, the Servicer's updated forecast
was only adjusted in terms of actual collections to date and timing
of future expected collections. Considering senior costs and
interest due on the Notes, the full repayment of Class A principal
is increasingly unlikely, but DBRS Morningstar's rating analysis
considers the outperformance in relation to the net present value
cumulative profitability ratio to date.

The final maturity date of the transaction is in December 2037.

Notes: All figures are in euros unless otherwise noted.


ITA: Lufthansa to Take 41% Stake Via EUR325MM Capital Increase
--------------------------------------------------------------
Joanna Plucinska and Klaus Lauer at Reuters report that German
airline group Lufthansa on May 25 said its goal was to take over
Italian carrier ITA Airways in full, but it could not be forced to
do so, after it announced it was taking on a minority stake on May
25.

Lufthansa will take a 41% stake in ITA Airways by way of a EUR325
million (US$358 million) capital increase that will flow directly
to the Italian carrier, the German group said on May 25, Reuters
relates.

According to Reuters, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said that
ownership stake could be extended based on how well the airline
performs in the coming year.

He said there are further options for acquiring the remaining 10%
but that it "depends on the economic development of ITA."

He added that the German group had to be sure they didn't overpay
for the financially troubled Italian airline, Reuters notes.


RENO DE MEDICI: Moody's Affirms 'B2' CFR & Alters Outlook to Stable
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has affirmed the B2 long term corporate
family rating and the B2-PD probability of default rating of the
Italian recycled paper board producer Reno De Medici S.p.A. ("RDM"
or "the company"). Concurrently, Moody's has affirmed the B2
instrument rating on the EUR445 million senior secured floating
rate notes maturing in 2026. The outlook has been changed to stable
from negative.

RATINGS RATIONALE

The rating action reflects a strong improvement in the company's
profitability and credit metrics during 2022. Its revenue surged
33% to EUR1.2 billion as RDM implemented energy surcharges since
September 2022 in addition to regular price increases. The key
driver of revenue growth was pricing (+60%) as volume (-17%) has
already softened in the second half of the year, even though partly
affected by production stop at two of the company's mills. The
effective pass-through of energy inflation and the growing
contribution spread to raw materials in H2 2022 when recycled paper
prices started to decline helped the company to drive its
profitability to the record-high level. Moody's adjusted EBITDA
margin has grown to 16.7% in 2022 from merely 4.2% in 2021 when
RDM's earnings were burdened by the time lag in passing through the
cost inflation. But also looking at more normalized profitability
margins in 2018-20 with around 11.2% Moody's adjusted EBITDA margin
on average, the level of 2022 was comparatively high.

Better earnings development led to a significant improvement in
credit metrics. With Moody's adjusted gross leverage of 2.6x,
retained cash flow/ debt of 27% and EBITDA/ Interest of 5.2x at the
year-end 2022, metrics are currently strong for the B2 rating
category. However, Moody's expect the market environment in paper
packaging in the coming quarters to be burdened by downwards
pressure on selling prices as a large decline in main input factors
such as recovered paper and energy effects them with a time lag.
The de-stocking across the value chain resulted in weak volumes
exacerbating the downwards pressure on pricing and squeezing out
producer's profitability margins. It is not yet visible to us when
this process will be over; however, management believes the markets
will improve H2 2022 as destocking ends. As a result, Moody's
anticipate a marked reduction in the group's earnings in 2023 with
a corresponding increase in leverage that will additionally be
affected by the recently announced, mostly debt-funded acquisition
of Fiskeby International Holding AB (Fiskeby) for EUR150 million
enterprise value (closing expected in July 2023).

For 2023, Moody's expect Moody's adjusted gross leverage to be in
the range of 4x – 5x however with uncertainty in regard to
deceleration of earnings and further acquisitions by the company
given the high market fragmentation outside of the large two WLC
producers in Europe. For a higher rating, RDM needs to build a
track record of retaining profitability in different market
environments and structurally improving its EBITDA margin. While in
2022 the company was able to post 16.7% Moody's adjusted EBITDA
margin, over the past decade it was less than 10% on average.

Despite short-term headwinds, Moody's expect the paper packaging
market to continue growing structurally in coming years,
benefitting from plastic substitution and remaining relatively
stable from the volume perspective because of the large exposure to
FMCG end-markets.

The rating is mainly supported by (1) its leading market positions
as the largest producer of recycled cartonboard (WLC) in Europe
following the recent acquisition of Fiskeby and its #2 market
position in solidboard; (2) resilient demand as a large share of
sales (44% in 2022) is derived from the Food & Beverage end-market;
(3) sustainability tailwind for recycled paper-packaging with a
substitution potential against plastic packaging; and (4)
track-record of positive free cash flow (FCF) generation in the
past.

However, the rating is constrained by (1) the cyclical and
competitive nature of the paper packaging industry; (2) challenging
macroeconomic environment with a downwards pressure on prices/
volumes for recycled cartonboard that may lead to a moderation of
currently high profitability margins; (3) high volatility in raw
materials (recycled fiber) that typically results in significant
swings in RDM's profitability; and (4) the event risk related to
further acquisitions targeting either horizontal diversification
(paper mills) or entrance into downstream activities (packaging
converters).

RATIONALE FOR STABLE OUTLOOK

The stable outlook reflects Moody's expectation that RDM's
profitability will remain at a relatively high level in the next
12-18 months compared to previous years, even though well below the
record-high level of 2022, allowing credit metrics to remain solid
for the rating category. The outlook assumes that RDM will maintain
a good level of liquidity while considering organic and inorganic
growth options.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS

Positive rating pressure could arise if:

Moody's-adjusted gross debt/ EBITDA below 4.5x on a sustained
basis;

Moody's-adjusted EBITDA margin above 13%;

Sustainably positive free cash flow generation;

Conversely, negative rating pressure could arise if:

Moody's-adjusted gross debt/ EBITDA above 6.0x on a sustained
basis;

Moody's-adjusted EBITDA/ interest expense below 2.5x on a
sustained basis;

Negative free cash flow leading to a deterioration in liquidity
profile;

LIQUIDITY

Moody's views the liquidity profile of RDM as adequate. This is
reflected in EUR53 million of cash at the year-end 2022, which is
further complemented by the fully undrawn EUR75 million revolving
credit facility (RCF) maturing in 2026. The RCF contains a
springing covenant at 8x senior secured net leverage ratio (2x at
the year-end 2022) tested quarterly when the facility is more than
40% drawn. The funding for the Fiskeby acquisition has been secured
according to the company with a 3y term loan which will be pari
passu with existing bonds. The cash amount will be reduced only
marginally and the RCF should remain undrawn. Moody's liquidity
assessment is further supported by the company's track record of
positive FCF generation.

STRUCTURAL CONSIDERATION

Moody's rates senior secured floating rate notes issued by Reno De
Medici S.p.A. at B2, in line with the long term corporate family
rating. This is primarily because senior secured debt constitutes
most of the company's outstanding liabilities, and there is only a
EUR75 million super senior revolving facility that ranks ahead of
the bonds in Moody's loss given default waterfall. The size of the
facility however is too small to cause the notching of the bonds
below the CFR. The RCF and the senior secured notes share the same
collateral package, consisting of shares in all material operating
subsidiaries of the group, representing at least 80% of
consolidated EBITDA.

PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY

The principal methodology used in these ratings was Paper and
Forest Products published in December 2021.

COMPANY PROFILE

Headquartered in Milan, Italy, Reno De Medici S.p.A. is the leading
European producer and distributor of recycled paperboard. The
company operates nine mills across five European countries with a
total capacity of 1.5 million tons per year. In 2022, RDM generated
around EUR1.2 billion of revenue. Since 2021 the company is owned
by the private-equity company Apollo Global Management.   




===================
L U X E M B O U R G
===================

ARMORICA LUX: EUR335M Bank Debt Trades at 18% Discount
------------------------------------------------------
Participations in a syndicated loan under which Armorica Lux Sarl
is a borrower were trading in the secondary market around 81.9
cents-on-the-dollar during the week ended Friday, May 26, 2023,
according to Bloomberg's Evaluated Pricing service data.

The EUR335 million facility is a Term loan that is scheduled to
mature on July 28, 2028.  The amount is fully drawn and
outstanding.

Armorica Lux Sarl is the parent company of idverde, a provider of
landscaping services in Europe, offering a broad range of services
for public or private clients across all segments. The Company's
country of domicile is Luxembourg.

MALLINCKRODT INT'L: Moody's Cuts CFR to Caa1, Outlook Neg.
----------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service downgraded the ratings of Mallinckrodt
International Finance S.A., including the corporate family rating
to Caa1 from B3 and the probability of default rating to Caa1-PD
from B3-PD. Moody's also downgraded the ratings on the company's
senior secured first lien debt to Caa1 from B3, and the senior
secured second lien debt to Caa3 from Caa2. There is no change to
the SGL-2 Speculative Grade Liquidity Rating. At the same time,
Moody's revised the outlook to negative from stable.

The rating downgrades reflect meaningful deterioration in
Mallinckrodt credit metrics, including debt/EBITDA increasing to
above 7.0 times. The decrease in Mallinckrodt's topline and
profitability are largely the result of a double-digit percentage
decline in the specialty brands segment. The two largest
franchises, Acthar and INOmax, face ongoing competitive pressures
that Moody's expects will persist over the next 12-18 months. The
downgrade also reflects the ongoing cash outflows related to opioid
litigation settlement, which will limit the company's ability to
improve operational performance or meaningfully deleverage.

Governance risk factors are material to the rating action,
including financial policy and risk management considerations. As
earnings deteriorate and financial leverage remains high, the
company's credit risk profile will become increasingly sensitive to
unforeseen operating setbacks, which will also elevate refinancing
risk.

Downgrades:

Issuer: Mallinckrodt International Finance S.A.

Corporate Family Rating, Downgraded to Caa1 from B3

Probability of Default Rating, Downgraded to Caa1-PD from B3-PD

Senior Secured 1st Lien Term Loan B, Downgraded to Caa1 from B3

Senior Secured 1st Lien Notes, Downgraded to Caa1 from B3

Senior Secured 2nd Lien Notes, Downgraded to Caa3 from Caa2

Outlook Actions:

Issuer: Mallinckrodt International Finance S.A.

Outlook, Changed To Negative From Stable

RATINGS RATIONALE

Mallinckrodt's Caa1 CFR reflects its high pro forma financial
leverage of 7.4x for the twelve months ended March 31, 2023,
including the present value of liabilities related to the opioid
settlement. The rating is also constrained by high earnings
concentration in Mallinckrodt's two largest franchises, Acthar and
INOmax, both of which will continue to experience double-digit
declines in earnings due to competitive pressures. Mallinckrodt's
ratings are supported by its moderate scale and its growing
hospital-based business. The ratings are also supported by good
liquidity.

The Caa1 rating for the senior secured first lien term loans and
notes matches the Caa1 Corporate Family Rating, as these
instruments represent the preponderance of liabilities in the
capital structure. The second lien notes due 2025 and second lien
notes due 2029 are both rated Caa3, two-notches below the CFR,
which reflects the subordination of these instruments to the first
lien credit facilities and the expectation of loss in value in a
default scenario.

The Speculative Grade Liquidity Rating of SGL-2 reflects Moody's
expectation that Mallinckrodt's liquidity will remain good over the
next 12 months. Mallinckrodt's liquidity is supported by roughly
$480 million of cash at March 31, 2023. Moody's estimates that the
company will generate positive free cash flow over the next 12
months. Mallinckrodt's liquidity profile is further supported by a
ABL revolving credit facility (unrated) due 2026, that provides for
borrowings of $200 million. Alternative sources of liquidity are
limited as substantially all assets are pledged. Moody's
anticipates that Mallinckrodt's liquidity sources will sufficiently
cover cash outlays, such as upcoming opioid-related litigation
settlement payouts, over the next 12 to 18 months. These include
$200 million due in June 2023 and an additional $200 million due in
2024.

Mallinckrodt's CIS-5 indicates that the rating is lower than it
would have been if ESG risk exposures did not exist and that the
negative impact is more pronounced than for issuers scored CIS-4.
Primary drivers of the CIS-5 include governance risks (G-5), driven
by the company's aggressive financial policies vis-a-vis very high
financial leverage and management track record and credibility
risks of successfully operating following the 2020 bankruptcy
filing. The score also reflects exposure to social risks (S-5),
most notably with responsible production and high exposure to
litigation, specifically related to its sales of opioid drugs.
Additionally, because branded business represents a large share of
cash flows, drug pricing risk in the US is a key social risk, for
Mallinckrodt as well.

The negative outlook reflects pressure on the credit profile
resulting from declining earnings and limited free cash flow after
required cash outflows for opioid-related litigation settlements.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS

The ratings could be downgraded if Mallinckrodt's operating results
are weaker than Moody's anticipates, the company incurs any
material incremental cash outflows related to various ongoing legal
matters including opioids or cleanup related to environmental
remediation, or if liquidity significantly deteriorates. Ratings
could also be downgraded if the company fails to address it
approaching debt maturities, in a timely manner, or company
undertakes transactions that increase the probability of default.

The ratings could be upgraded if Mallinckrodt can demonstrate a
path to achieving a sustainable base of earnings to support its
debt and a return to earnings growth. Moody's would also need to
see the company maintain at least good liquidity highlighted by
consistently positive free cash flows. The company would also need
to resolve remaining opioid-related legal matters, avoiding any
additional litigation, as well as address approaching debt
maturities.

The principal methodology used in these ratings was Pharmaceuticals
published in November 2021.

Luxembourg-based Mallinckrodt International Finance S.A. is a
subsidiary of Dublin, Ireland-based Mallinckrodt plc (collectively
"Mallinckrodt"). Mallinckrodt is a specialty biopharmaceutical
company with reported net revenue for the twelve months ended March
31, 2023 of approximately $1.85 billion.


SK NEPTUNE: $610M Bank Debt Trades at 25% Discount
--------------------------------------------------
Participations in a syndicated loan under which SK Neptune Husky
Group Sarl is a borrower were trading in the secondary market
around 74.7 cents-on-the-dollar during the week ended Friday, May
26, 2023, according to Bloomberg's Evaluated Pricing service data.


The $610 million facility is a Term loan that is scheduled to
mature on January 3, 2029.  The amount is fully drawn and
outstanding.

In January 2022, KeyBanc Capital Markets successfully closed the
syndication of $735 million Senior Secured Credit Facilities in
support of SK Capital Partners' and The Heubach Group's acquisition
of Clariant AG's Pigments Business. The Credit Facilities consisted
of a $125 million Revolving Credit Facility and a $610 million
Senior Secured Term Loan.

Headquartered in Langelsheim, Germany, Heubach is a global producer
of organic, inorganic and non-toxic anti-corrosive pigments with
six plants in India, U.S. and Germany.

Headquartered in Muttenz, Switzerland, Clariant Pigments is a
global provider of organic pigments, pigment preparations and
dyes.

SK Capital Partners is a New York-based private investment firm
based.

SK Neptune Husky Group Sarl has its registered office in
Luxembourg.

TRINSEO MATERIALS: $750M Bank Debt Trades at 18% Discount
---------------------------------------------------------
Participations in a syndicated loan under which Trinseo Materials
Operating SCA is a borrower were trading in the secondary market
around 82.3 cents-on-the-dollar during the week ended Friday, May
26, 2023, according to Bloomberg's Evaluated Pricing service data.


The $750 million facility is a Term loan that is scheduled to
mature on May 3, 2028.  About $734 million of the loan is withdrawn
and outstanding.

Trinseo is a specialty material solutions provider.  The Company's
country of domicile is Luxembourg.




=====================
N E T H E R L A N D S
=====================

JUBILEE PLACE 3: Moody's Affirms B1 Rating on EUR13.11MM X1 Notes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has upgraded the ratings of two Notes in
Jubilee Place 3 B.V. The upgrades reflect better than expected
collateral performance.

Moody's affirmed the ratings of the notes that had sufficient
credit enhancement to maintain their current ratings.

EUR287.69M Class A Notes, Affirmed Aaa (sf); previously on Jan 21,
2022 Definitive Rating Assigned Aaa (sf)

EUR18.85M Class B Notes, Affirmed Aa3 (sf); previously on Jan 21,
2022 Definitive Rating Assigned Aa3 (sf)

EUR10.66M Class C Notes, Upgraded to A1 (sf); previously on Jan
21, 2022 Definitive Rating Assigned A2 (sf)

EUR7.38M Class D Notes, Upgraded to Baa2 (sf); previously on Jan
21, 2022 Definitive Rating Assigned Baa3 (sf)

EUR3.28M Class E Notes, Affirmed Ba3 (sf); previously on Jan 21,
2022 Definitive Rating Assigned Ba3 (sf)

EUR13.11M Class X1 Notes, Affirmed B1 (sf); previously on Jan 21,
2022 Definitive Rating Assigned B1 (sf)

RATINGS RATIONALE

The rating action is prompted by decreased key collateral
assumption, namely the MILAN CE assumption, due to better than
expected collateral performance.

Revision of Key Collateral Assumptions:

As part of the rating action, Moody's reassessed its lifetime loss
expectation for the portfolio reflecting the collateral performance
to date.

The performance of the transactions has continued to be stable
since last rating actions date. Total delinquencies have remained
stable in the past year, with 90 days plus arrears at 0% of current
pool balance. Cumulative losses currently stand at 0% of the
original balance.

Moody's maintained the expected loss assumption at 2.8% as a
percentage of original pool balance.

Moody's has reassessed loan-by-loan information as a part of its
detailed transaction review to determine the credit support
consistent with target rating levels and the volatility of future
losses. As a result, Moody's decreased the MILAN CE assumption to
18% from 19%.

Available Credit Enhancement:

Sequential amortization led to the increase in the credit
enhancement available in this transaction. For instance, the credit
enhancement of Class C Notes increased to 4.76% from 3.91% since
closing.

The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's
Approach to Rating RMBS Using the MILAN Framework" published in
July 2022.

The analysis undertaken by Moody's at the initial assignment of
ratings for RMBS securities may focus on aspects that become less
relevant or typically remain unchanged during the surveillance
stage.

Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the ratings:

Factors or circumstances that could lead to an upgrade of the
ratings include (1) performance of the underlying collateral that
is better than Moody's expected, (2) an increase in available
credit enhancement and (3) improvements in the credit quality of
the transaction counterparties.

Factors or circumstances that could lead to a downgrade of the
ratings include (1) an increase in sovereign risk, (2) performance
of the underlying collateral that is worse than Moody's expected,
(3) deterioration in the notes' available credit enhancement and
(4) deterioration in the credit quality of the transaction
counterparties.


SPRINT BIDCO: Fitch Alters Outlook on 'B' LongTerm IDR to Negative
------------------------------------------------------------------
Fitch Ratings has revised Sprint BidCo B.V.'s (Accell Group B.V.)
Outlook to Negative from Positive while affirming the company's
Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'B' and its senior secured
rating at 'B+' with a Recovery Rating of 'RR3'.

The Negative Outlook reflects limited visibility over Accell's
working capital-related cash outflows due to persisting supply
chain challenges, which have materially eroded the company's
liquidity headroom and free cash flow (FCF) generation, as well as
weakening its deleveraging prospects.

Rating strengths are the company's attractive product offering as
one the largest European manufacturers of bicycles and e-bikes,
benefitting from strong underlying demand fundamentals and
favourable public policies.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Working-Capital Volatility Stretches Liquidity: Accell's FCF and
liquidity headroom has been materially eroded by persisting supply
chain challenges, leading to high trade working-capital (TWC)
outflows in 2022. This led to a substantial drawdown of its EUR180
million committed revolving credit facility (RCF), in addition to
raising a EUR75 million asset-based loan (ABL) to restore part of
its liquidity buffer.

Accell is taking steps to increase control over procurement and
improve operational processes, which along with a recovery of its
production, are expected to help normalise inventories and
receivables. Fitch projects a mild TWC outflow in 2023, and see
limited visibility over the pace of the TWC reversal.

Delayed Deleveraging Prospects: Continued supply chain disruptions
have weighed on Accell's cash flow generation and necessitated
additional debt drawdown to fund working-capital needs, further
delaying deleveraging prospects. Fitch now forecasts its EBITDA
leverage at 6.0x in 2023, with fully exhausted leverage headroom
under the 'B' IDR, before it gradually improves towards 5.0x by
end-2025, two years later than previously projected.

Moderate Positive FCF: Fitch projects moderate positive FCF
generation from 2023, assuming supply chain disruptions wane and
working capital normalises. Over 2023-2025, FCF generation will be
compressed by disbursements linked to restructuring charges and
slightly higher capex. Nevertheless, Fitch projects a consistent
FCF margin of around 1%-2.5%, which aids financial flexibility and
supports the IDR affirmation. Persisting negative FCF would signal
a weakening of Accell's credit profile and would put its rating
under pressure.

Wide Bicycle Products Portfolio: The rating reflects Accell's wide
portfolio of bicycles, spanning from traditional bikes to electric,
including a good presence in the newest category of cargo bikes for
family and business use, sold across western Europe. The portfolio
is complemented by the lower-ticket-per purchase business of
distributing parts and accessories, which provides diversification
benefits. Profits are mostly concentrated on e-bikes (57% of 2022
sales). Moreover, Accell relies more on the German market (40%),
which benefits from strong purchasing power and one of the highest
penetrations of bike ownership on the continent.

Resilient Demand: Fitch projects demand for bikes to rise by
high-single digits p.a. over 2023-2026 in the UK, Holland, France
and Germany in value terms, mostly driven by e-bikes, while demand
for traditional bikes declines. Favourable demand trends include a
generalised increase in sporting activity, easier access to cycling
for senior users in part-electric mode, commuting use of e-bikes
facilitated by new infrastructure (cycling lanes; possibility to
carry bikes on public transport) and fiscal incentives for
purchases. In line with its expectations, demand drivers have been
unaffected by the current weaker consumer spending environment, as
bicycles and e-bikes provide a cheaper transportation option.

Low-Margin Assembler & Marketer: As a consumer products company,
Accell is characterised by a low-end EBITDA margin of around 9%,
driven by its business model, which focuses on designing and
marketing bicycles assembled in own factories with parts produced
by dedicated suppliers. This leaves part of the added value with
suppliers, to which Accell is exposed given its high
concentration.

However, management initiatives should support an EBITDA margin
uplift of around 50bp-100bp by 2025. Since the start of the
pandemic, the industry has suffered a shortage of parts, which
Accell has partly addressed with an increase in inventory (and
working capital) but this has not fully enabled it to satisfy high
underlying demand.

DERIVATION SUMMARY

Fitch rates Accell under its Consumer Products Navigator. Accell
has a slightly lower leverage profile than the skincare company
Sunshine Luxembourg VII Sarl's (B/Stable) 7.0x EBITDA leverage
although the latter benefits from better visibility of FCF
generation. Both companies enjoy good growth fundamentals and
product complexity, albeit the latter to a lesser degree at Accell.
Accell is also smaller, generating less FCF.

Another comparable is a luxury branded footwear manufacturer and
distributor Golden Goose S.p.A. (B/Stable), which we rate under the
Non-Food Retail Navigator. Golden Goose has materially stronger
EBITDA margins (25%) and Fitch does not see high execution risks in
its strategy but it has a narrow brand and product portfolio and is
slightly smaller. Golden Goose's credit benefits from stronger
projected FCF and liquidity headroom, explaining the difference in
their Outlooks.

KEY ASSUMPTIONS

Fitch's Key Assumptions Within Its Rating Case for the Issuer:

- Organic revenues to grow 11.3% in 2023, reflecting a
   catch-up in demand, and 5% to 2026 on strong sector
   trends and shift to e-bikes

- Improving EBITDA margin to 8%-10% to 2026

- Moderate negative change in net working capital in 2023
   of EUR20 million. Working-capital inflows of EUR18 million
   -EUR22 million in the following three years as working
   capital normalises

- Capex at EUR8 million in 2023 and around EUR40 million
   p.a. in 2024-2026

- No bolt-on acquisitions or shareholder distributions to 2026

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Upgrade:

- Gross debt/EBITDA below 4.5x and EBITDA /interest cover
   approaching 3.5x or above

- Successful execution of its growth and cost-simplification
   strategy, reflected in improving EBITDA of EUR140 million
   -EUR160 million or EBITDA margin of close to 10%

- Evidence of limited working-capital volatility, and not
   affecting positive FCF generation

Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to the
Outlook Being Revised to Stable

- Working-capital normalisation allowing Accell to
   generate positive FCF and gross debt/ EBITDA falling
   below 6.0x on a sustained basis

- EBITDA margin above 8% on a sustained basis

- EBITDA /interest above 2.5x

Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to a
Downgrade:

- Gross debt/EBITDA rising above 6.0x and EBITDA /interest
   cover dropping below 2.5x

- EBITDA margin dropping below 8% as a result of higher costs
   or weak implementation of the company's strategy or inability
   to effectively manage input cost inflation

- FCF moving into negative territory as a result of higher-than
   -anticipated restructuring costs or working -capital
   volatility resulting in reduced liquidity headroom with all
   committed debt funding largely exhausted and lack of clarity
   over funding alternatives

LIQUIDITY AND DEBT STRUCTURE

Limited Liquidity: Fitch views Accell's liquidity headroom as
constrained by high TWC cash absorption with limited visibility
over the pace of its normalisation, by modest FCF and by a nearly
fully exhausted EUR180 million RCF. In addition, the company raised
a EUR75 million ABL facility in February 2023 that we expect will
be used to repay part of the RCF.

Accell benefits from medium-term debt maturity headroom with no
significant debt repayment before 2028.

ISSUER PROFILE

Sprint Bidco B.V. is a special purpose vehicle that owns the
Netherlands-based bicycle company Accell.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS

Accell has an ESG Relevance Score of '4' [+] for GHG emissions &
air quality due to the company's products contributing to reducing
GHG emissions and benefitting from a supportive regulatory
environment, which has a positive impact on the credit profile, and
is relevant to the rating in conjunction with other factors.

Unless otherwise disclosed in this section, the highest level of
ESG credit relevance is a score of '3'. This means ESG issues are
credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity,
either due to their nature or the way in which they are being
managed by the entity.

   Entity/Debt             Rating        Recovery   Prior
   -----------             ------        --------   -----
Sprint BidCo B.V.   LT IDR B  Affirmed                B

   senior secured   LT     B+ Affirmed      RR3       B+


VECHT RESIDENTIAL 2023-1: Moody's Assigns Caa2 Rating to X1 Notes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has assigned definitive ratings to the
Notes issued by Vecht Residential 2023-1 B.V.:

EUR201.5 million Class A Mortgage Backed Floating Rate Notes due
May 2058, Definitive Rating Assigned Aaa (sf)

EUR9.3 million Class B Mortgage Backed Floating Rate Notes due May
2058, Definitive Rating Assigned Aa2 (sf)

EUR6.5 million Class C Mortgage Backed Floating Rate Notes due May
2058, Definitive Rating Assigned A3 (sf)

EUR6.1 million Class D Mortgage Backed Floating Rate Notes due May
2058, Definitive Rating Assigned Ba2 (sf)

EUR5.1 million Class X1 Floating Rate Notes due May 2058,
Definitive Rating Assigned Caa2 (sf)

Moody's has not assigned definitive ratings to EUR4.30M Class Z1
Mortgage Backed Notes due May 2058, EUR2.00M Class Z2 Notes due May
2058 and EUR2.20M Class X2 Floating Rate Notes due May 2058.

At closing, the issuance of the notes will also fund the
pre-funding amount of EUR12.0 million, which will be credited into
the issuer account and used to purchase new mortgage loans based on
a predetermined pipeline. The pre-funding period will end on the
first interest payment date in August 2023 and any unutilized
amount will be used to pay down pro-rata Class A to D notes and
Class Z1 notes.

RATINGS RATIONALE

The Notes are backed by a static pool of Dutch buy-to-let ("BTL")
mortgage loans originated by Mogelijk Hypotheken B.V. ("Mogelijk").
This represents the first issuance of this originator.

The total definitive portfolio as of March 31, 2023 is EUR227.7
million of which EUR12.0 million have been prefunded by Vecht
Residential 2023-1 B.V. The reserve fund is fully funded at
closing, equal to 2.00% of Class A notes. The total credit
enhancement for the Class A notes at closing is 13.28% in addition
to excess spread.

The ratings are primarily based on the credit quality of the
portfolio, the structural features of the transaction and its legal
integrity.

According to Moody's, the transaction benefits from various credit
strengths such as a static portfolio and an amortising reserve fund
fully funded at closing at 2.00% of Class A notes. However, Moody's
notes that the transaction features some credit weaknesses such as
a small and unregulated originator also acting as master servicer
and the focus on a small, niche market, the Dutch BTL sector.
Mogelijk performs the day-to-day servicing of the portfolio, the
special servicing is delegated to Vesting Finance Servicing B.V
(NR) which acts also as the back-up servicer. The risk of servicing
disruption is further mitigated by structural features of the
transaction. These include, among others, the issuer administrator
acting as a backup servicer facilitator who will assist the issuer
in appointing a back-up servicer on a best effort basis upon
termination of the servicing agreement. All loans carry fixed
interest rate with different reset frequencies and the rated notes
carry floating rates tied to 3m Euribor. To mitigate this
fixed-floating interest rate mismatch, there is a banded interest
rate swap provided by NatWest Markets N.V. (A1/P-1;
A1(cr)/P-1(cr)).

Moody's determined the portfolio lifetime expected loss of 2.50%
and Aaa MILAN credit enhancement ("MILAN CE") of 14.0% related to
the mortgage portfolio. The expected loss captures Moody's
expectations of performance considering the current economic
outlook, while the MILAN CE captures the loss Moody's expect the
portfolio to suffer in the event of a severe recession scenario.
Expected loss and MILAN CE are parameters used by Moody's to
calibrate its lognormal portfolio loss distribution curve and to
associate a probability with each potential future loss scenario in
the ABSROM cash flow model to rate RMBS.

Portfolio expected loss of 2.50%: This is higher than the average
in the Dutch RMBS sector and is based on Moody's assessment of the
lifetime loss expectation for the pool taking into account: (i)
that limited historical performance data for the originator's
portfolio is available; (ii) benchmarking with comparable
transactions in the Dutch BTL market and the UK BTL market; (iii)
peculiarities of the Dutch BTL market, such as the relatively high
likelihood that the lender will not benefit from its pledge on the
rents paid by the tenants in case of borrower insolvency; and (iv)
the current stable economic conditions and forecasts in The
Netherlands.

The MILAN CE for this pool is 14.0%: Which is in line with other
BTL RMBS transactions in the Netherlands owing to: (i) the fact
that only limited historical performance data is available for the
originator's portfolio and the Dutch BTL market; (ii) the weighted
average current loan-to-market value (LTMV) of approximately
66.87%; and (iii) the high interest only (IO) loan exposure (65.43%
of the loan balance are IO loans). Borrowers could face
difficulties to refinance IO loans at maturity because of the lack
of alternative lenders. Furthermore, while Mogelijk is using the
market value in tenanted status in assessing the LTV upon
origination, Moody's apply an additional stress to the property
values to account for the higher illiquidity of rented-out
properties when being foreclosed and sold in rented state in a
severe stress scenario. Due to the small and niche nature of the
Dutch BTL market and the high tenant protection laws in The
Netherlands Moody's consider a higher likelihood that properties
will have to be sold with tenants occupying the property than in
other BTL markets, such as UK.

The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's
Approach to Rating RMBS Using the MILAN Framework" published in
July 2022.

The analysis undertaken by Moody's at the initial assignment of
ratings for RMBS securities may focus on aspects that become less
relevant or typically remain unchanged during the surveillance
stage.

Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the ratings:

Factors that would lead to an upgrade of the ratings include:
significantly better than expected performance of the pool together
with an increase in credit enhancement of the notes.

Factors that would lead to a downgrade of the ratings include: (i)
increased counterparty risk leading to potential operational risk
of (a) servicing or cash management interruptions and (b) the risk
of increased swap linkage due to a downgrade of the swap
counterparty rating; and (ii) economic conditions being worse than
forecast resulting in higher arrears and losses.


VECHT RESIDENTIAL 2023-1: S&P Assigns BB Rating on Class X1 Notes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings assigned credit ratings to Vecht Residential
2023-1 B.V.'s class A to D-Dfrd notes and uncollateralized class
X1-Dfrd notes. At closing, Vecht Residential 2023-1 also issued
unrated class X2, Z1, and Z2 notes.

Vecht Residential 2023-1 is a static RMBS transaction that
securitizes a portfolio of EUR215.8 million buy-to-let (BTL)
mortgage loans (as of Mar. 31, 2023) secured on residential
properties in the Netherlands. The loans in the pool were
originated by Mogelijk Hypotheken B.V. (Mogelijk) between 2020 and
2023. This is the first RMBS transaction originated by this
specialist BTL lender.

At closing, the issuer used the issuance proceeds to purchase the
full beneficial interest in the mortgage loans from the seller. The
issuer granted security over all its assets in the security
trustee's favor.

Credit enhancement for the rated notes consists of subordination
from the closing date.

The transaction has a reserve fund to provide liquidity for the
class A-Dfrd to D-Dfrd notes.

There are no rating constraints in the transaction under S&P's
operational risk or structured finance sovereign risk criteria.

In addition, counterparty and legal risks do not constrain S&P's
ratings. S&P assumes the issuer to be bankruptcy remote.

  Ratings

  CLASS     RATING*      AMOUNT (MIL. EUR)§


  A         AAA (sf)     201.50

  B-Dfrd    AA+ (sf)       9.30

  C-Dfrd    A+ (sf)        6.50

  D-Dfrd    BB (sf)        6.10

  X1-Dfrd   BB (sf)        5.10

  X2        NR             2.20

  Z1        NR             4.30

  Z2        NR             2.00

*S&P's ratings address timely receipt of interest and ultimate
repayment of principal on the class A notes, and the ultimate
payment of interest and principal on the other rated notes.
§Amount excludes pre-funding portion.
NR--Not rated.




=========
S P A I N
=========

BERING III: S&P Lowers ICR to 'CCC+', Outlook Negative
------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings lowered its ratings on Spain-based frozen
seafood group Bering III S.a.r.l. (Iberconsa) and the term loan B
(TLB) to 'CCC+' from 'B-'. The recovery rating on the TLB remains
'3'.

The negative outlook reflects S&P's view that weak debt metrics,
with an uncertain recovery path, might challenge Iberconsa's
ability to refinance its debt structure ahead of the 2024
maturities.

Iberconsa's persisting weak credit metrics over the past year could
thwart the timely refinancing of the group's 2024 senior debt
maturities. The group ended 2022 with negative FOCF of EUR32
million (-EUR13 million including the impact from blue chip swaps)
and weak S&P Global Ratings-adjusted debt leverage of 12.7x (8.5x
including the impact from blue chip swaps), notably due to
inflationary pressure, sluggish demand, and economic headwinds on
foreign exchange rates. S&P said, "Although we assume Iberconsa's
operating performance should recover gradually over the coming
months, credit metrics and liquidity are likely to remain thin
considering the relatively weak starting point. In our view,
Iberconsa's ability to refinance or extend its RCF, due May 2024,
and TLB, due November 2024, hinges on a getting through the current
economic headwinds with improved free cash flow generation and
reduced leverage."

Iberconsa's refinancing profile could improve, however, on the back
of a gradual strengthening of its operating performance this year.
S&P said, "We anticipate a decrease in S&P Global Ratings-adjusted
leverage toward 10.0x (7.0x-7.5x including the impact from blue
chip swap trading) by year-end, alongside a rebound in adjusted
EBITDA to EUR45 million-EUR50 million. We factor in revenue growth
of about 10% and that the adjusted EBITDA margin will expand about
100 basis points (bps)." The improvements will stem from continued
repricing activity, especially in hake, gradually receding freight
and fuel costs after last year's peak, and better efficiency in the
fleet and the manufacturing footprint. This should translate into
neutral-to-slightly positive FOCF in 2023 (about EUR20 million
including the impact from blue chip swaps). FOCF generation should
also receive a boost from unwinding inventories in 2023 -- on the
release of elevated land-frozen shrimp stocks at end-2022 and
normalizing the impact of inflation -- as well as lower capital
expenditure (capex) intensity since we assume key investments have
been completed.

Nevertheless, the recovery's reliance on external factors implies
high volatility around our base-case projections. Iberconsa's
profitability is very sensitive to seafood prices, which vary
widely depending on weather events, regulatory changes,
fast-changing consumer trends, and international demand from Asian
markets. Shrimp, in particular, represents more than one-third of
group sales and almost half of reported EBITDA in 2022. In our
view, weak consumer sentiment in Western countries and persistent
soft demand from China will likely continue holding market prices
over the coming months, preventing a swift rebound in
profitability. S&P said, "Additionally, our forecasted recovery
hinges on the evolution of freights and fuel prices; we expect
these will gradually decrease over the coming months amid
still-high volatility. Lastly, Iberconsa's significant exposure to
Argentina translates into high foreign exchange and regulatory
risk. We think authorities are likely to continue adjusting
official exchange rates, and new restrictions could be passed on
blue chips swap trades, further hindering Iberconsa's profitability
and liquidity position."

S&P said, "Last year's poor performance was due to rising
inflation, negative foreign exchange movements, and a weak shrimp
campaign. Results were lower than we expected. Revenue rose 5% and
adjusted EBITDA stood at EUR38.8 million (EUR58.0 million including
the impact from blue chip swaps), compared with our estimates of
10% and roughly EUR50 million (about EUR64 including the impact
from blue chip swaps), respectively. Despite higher prices in some
key categories across all distribution channels throughout 2022,
revenue buckled because of shortages of land-frozen shrimp and
stagnant market prices of sea-frozen shrimp on weakening consumer
demand. Also, inflation hit profitability--primarily in fuel,
freight, and labor costs--compounded by negative exchange rate
fluctuations notably linked to its Argentinian operations, where
record high inflation is running ahead of local currency
devaluation against hard currencies. This temporary decoupling is
hurting Iberconsa's profitability because the cost base is
significantly exposed to Argentinian pesos while sales are
denominated in euros and U.S. dollars, and the consolidated
accounts are presented in euros. The company is financing cash
flows with blue-chip swap transactions, purchasing U.S.
dollar-denominated securities in the New York Stock Exchange and
subsequently selling them in the Buenos Aires Exchange in pesos,
allowing the company to tap into an implied exchange rate
significantly higher than the official one.

"Iberconsa should have sufficient liquidity to fund day-to-day
operations but we continue to see risks of tight financial covenant
headroom. The group's liquidity position took a hit during 2022
from EUR32 million of negative FOCF. Decreasing EBITDA, higher
interest payments, and increasing working capital requirements were
behind the weak result. The group drew an additional EUR30 million
under its RCF to fund daily operations. This leaves only EUR5
million available of the EUR75 million facility as of end-2022.
Nevertheless, internal liquidity sources plus a signed asset
disposal of about EUR12 million enable Iberconsa to cover its
short-term funding needs. We project this year's capex will be
lower than in 2022 and that the group will see about EUR10 million
of working capital inflows over the coming months as frozen shrimp
inventories gradually unwind throughout fiscal 2023. We also
anticipate an easing of inflationary pressures. Moreover, we assume
the group will realize approximately EUR18 million of income from
blue chip swap trades in 2023, following EUR19.2 million in 2022,
further supporting liquidity. Iberconsa's RCF is subject to a
springing covenant that requires a maximum net leverage ratio of
5.25x--temporarily at 5.75x following a waiver granted by lenders
last fiscal year--tested only if RCF drawings net of cash on
balance sheet exceed 35%. This is currently the case. The company
passed its covenant tests in 2022 and in first-quarter 2023, but we
see an increasing financial covenant breach risk starting September
2023 following the threshold's move back to 5.25x. That said, we
note that the current senior facility agreement gives the company
some degree of pro forma adjustments based on expected
cost-savings. This provides additional flexibility for the group to
meet its covenants over the next quarters.

"The negative outlook reflects our view that Iberconsa faces
heightening refinancing risks ahead of large debt maturities in
2024. In our 2023 base case, although we assume both EBITDA and
FOCF to rebound to about neutral, credit metrics will remain weak,
with adjusted debt leverage near 10.0x. We also expect the company
to bear tight covenant headroom over the next quarters.

"We could lower the rating if Iberconsa fails to address upcoming
debt maturities of its senior debt before end-2023. We could also
lower the rating if the operating performance or the liquidity
position deteriorates such that the probability of a default
scenario, as per our criteria, or a financial covenant breach
increases in the near term.

"We could revise the outlook to stable if the company successfully
refinances all upcoming senior debt maturities. This could come
with an improvement in the adjusted EBITDA and FOCF, such that
adjusted debt leverage reduces to 10.0x by end-2023."

ESG credit indicators: E-2, S-2, G-3


CIRSA ENTERPRISES: S&P Raises ICR to 'B', Outlook Positive
----------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings raised to 'B' from 'B-' its long-term issuer
credit rating on Spain-based gaming operator Cirsa Enterprises
S.L.U. and its issue rating on its senior secured notes. At the
same time, S&P raised to 'CCC+' from 'CCC' its rating on the EUR483
million senior secured payment-in-kind (PIK) notes issued by LHMC
Finco 2 Sarl.

The positive outlook indicates that S&P sees a one-in-three chance
that we could upgrade Cirsa if the group maintains its resilient
trading performance and addresses its upcoming maturities in a
timely manner (including the outstanding PIK notes issued by the
holding company), and its sponsor demonstrates its commitment to
maintaining a higher rating and not undertaking transactions that
would increase leverage.

S&P said, "Solid operational and financial execution should support
sustainable deleveraging. Cirsa exceeded our expectations in terms
of revenue, earnings, and free cash flow through 2022. Revenue rose
52.5% to EUR2.0 billion and adjusted EBITDA growth jumped 65.7% to
EUR544 million. Management has improved profitability over the past
couple of years by executing cost-efficiency initiatives and
boosting operating margins to 26.7% in 2022, well above
pre-pandemic levels (24.5% in 2019). In the first quarter of 2023,
Cirsa reported solid EBITDA of EUR151 million and we expect it to
exploit operating leverage further while sustaining the improved
profitability and generating meaningful positive FOCF over the next
12-24 months. We note that Cirsa has historically operated well
when faced with mounting inflation and rising interest rates,
particularly given its material exposure to the more-volatile
economies of Latin America. In such conditions, consumption of
long-lasting goods, such as cars and electronics, typically falls,
but consumption of low-ticket items like those Cirsa offers are
less affected. The upgrade was supported by our increased
confidence in Cirsa management's ability to stimulate earnings
growth over the next couple of years and our belief that it is
committed to creating and sustaining significant financial
flexibility. This will help the company to weather operational and
market risks.

"Cirsa's online offering, which includes gaming products and sports
betting, is key to its growth strategy. The company has continued
to expand its online business, mainly through mergers and
acquisitions (M&A). For example, it acquired 60% of Italian online
gaming operator E-Play24 and 70% of Mexican online gaming operator
GanaBet. In addition, Cirsa has a multichannel presence with a
large customer base and strong brand recognition. EBITDA from the
online segment reached EUR42 million as of year-end 2022; this
represented about 7.6% of the group's EBITDA. By March 31, 2023,
Cirsa's online business had generated EBITDA of EUR16.1 million
(10.7% of total group EBITDA for the quarter). This demonstrates
that it is likely to expand further.

In Latin America, Cirsa is replicating the strategy it used in
Spain. This is based on an omnichannel model and includes a wide
retail network and strong local brands. The group already operates
in Colombia, Panama, Mexico, and Peru, and intends to expand into
other regulated Latin American countries over the next 12-24
months. According to management, the group's growth in the online
space has not been at the expense of its retail
operations--instead, both channels have grown in parallel. S&P
therefore expects Cirsa's omnichannel capabilities to sustain
continued growth in the medium-to-long term.

S&P said, "We expect Cirsa's credit metrics to improve further over
the next 12-18 months. The group achieved a sharp improvement in
leverage over the past 12 months--adjusted debt to EBITDA dropped
to 5.4x at end-2022 from 9.3x at end-2021. Despite the effect of
inflation and the risk of recession in 2023, we expect the company
will reduce adjusted leverage to below 5x by year-end and toward
4.5x by 2024. S&P Global Ratings-adjusted leverage excludes cash
and cash-equivalents and includes the PIK notes issued by the
holding company. We consider the forecast fall in adjusted leverage
to be supportive of the ratings.

"Cirsa also enjoys strong cash flow generation capacity. Free
operating cash flow (FOCF) to debt was over 8.3% at end-2022, and
we expect it to be 7%-8% over the next 12-24 months (excluding
fixed lease payments). Our estimate of FOCF incorporates the
group's record of reinvesting most of its cash flow in the
business, via capital expenditure (capex) and M&A, to drive EBITDA
growth. Given its solid liquidity levels and cash flow generation
capabilities, we anticipate that Cirsa will elect to pay cash
interest on its PIK subordinated notes due 2025, although
management has yet to confirm this. At the end of 2022, EUR483
million of these notes were still outstanding. If Cirsa were to
elect to accrue PIK interest on the notes, we anticipate that it
would have about EUR20 million of additional cash in 2023 and EUR40
million in 2024, compared with our base case, and slightly higher
adjusted leverage metrics.

"Although we assume that the group will sustain adequate liquidity,
we recognize that Cirsa's financial flexibility is underpinned by
upcoming maturities. The group recently upsized its revolving
credit facility (RCF) to EUR275 million and extended it to Dec. 15,
2026. However, the agreement includes a springing maturity
provision that states that, under certain conditions, repayment or
refinancing of the notes may be accelerated. This affects EUR160
million in outstanding notes due 2023 and EUR880 million in notes
due 2025. As of March 31, 2023, Cirsa had about EUR203 million of
cash on hand, minimal operating liquidity needs, and the
flexibility to cut capex if needed. The group also has EUR80
million-EUR90 million in additional sources of funding from gaming
tax deferrals and about EUR230 million available under the RCF,
which can be used for general corporate purposes. We expect
management will remain opportunistic and proactive in addressing
its upcoming maturities over the next 12 months and will strive to
even out its long-term debt maturity profile. We also anticipate
that the company will maintain sufficient liquidity to enable it to
negotiate potential obstacles.

"We would not raise the rating unless the group's financial sponsor
had committed to maintaining and improving credit metrics. Cirsa
had a strong record of financial growth and deleveraging before it
was acquired by private equity investor Blackstone in July 2018.
LHMC Finco 2, a parent company of Cirsa outside the restricted
group, raised EUR400 million in senior secured PIK notes in 2019;
the proceeds were used to fund a dividend recapitalization. The
transaction increased our adjusted leverage to 5.9x from the 4.8x
we previously expected. Although Cirsa Enterprises S.L.U. itself
does not guarantee the notes and is not a co-issuer, we consolidate
the outstanding EUR483 million in PIK notes in our leverage
calculations, as per our criteria. Overall, we view the group's
financial policy as aggressive and expect the group to split its
free cash flows between growth-focused capex and shareholder
returns. Any upgrade would rely heavily on the sponsor's record of
pursuing a financial policy that supports credit metrics remaining
at current levels and our expectation that the group would not
undertake any material debt-financed acquisitions or dividend
recapitalization.

"The positive outlook indicates that we see a one-in-three chance
that we could upgrade Cirsa if the group maintains its resilient
trading performance and addresses its upcoming maturities in a
timely manner (including the outstanding PIK notes issued by the
holding company), and its sponsor demonstrates its commitment to
maintaining a higher rating."

S&P could take a negative rating action on Cirsa if the group:

-- Was unable to address or refinance the senior notes that
    are due in December 2023 and saw a weakening in its
    liquidity position;

-- Allowed adjusted leverage to persistently exceed 5x; or

-- Allowed FOCF to debt to decline below 5% on a sustained
    basis.

S&P could also take a negative rating action if the group:

-- Undertook an aggressive transaction, such as a large
    debt-funded acquisition;

-- Paid cash returns to shareholders, resulting in substantial
    releveraging; or

-- Experienced unforeseen and material regulatory changes
    in any of the jurisdictions in which it operates.

S&P could raise the rating over the next 12 to 18 months if Cirsa:

-- Addresses its upcoming maturities in a timely manner
    (including the outstanding PIK notes issued by LHMC
    Finco 2); and

-- Sustained adjusted leverage below 5x while generating
    meaningful FOCF, such that adjusted FOCF to debt
    trended toward 10%.

An upgrade would also depend on a strong commitment from financial
sponsor Blackstone to maintain credit metrics at those levels.

ESG credit indicators: E-2, S-3, G-3

Social factors are a moderately negative consideration in S&P's
credit rating analysis of Cirsa. Like most gaming companies, Cirsa
is exposed to regulatory and social risks and the associated costs
related to increasing player health and safety measures, prevention
of money laundering, and changes to gaming taxes and laws, which
can be unpredictable in Latin America.

During the pandemic in 2020, temporary closures and social
distancing measures across EMEA and Latin America hindered
operations, causing EBITDA to decline by about 75% compared with
the prior year. Nevertheless, as soon as restrictions were eased,
Cirsa's EBITDA started to recover; it reached pre-pandemic levels
in the first half of 2022.

Governance factors are a moderately negative consideration, as is
the case for most rated entities owned by private-equity sponsors.
S&P believes the company's highly leveraged financial risk profile
points to corporate decision-making that prioritizes the interests
of the controlling owners. This also reflects generally finite
holding periods and a focus on maximizing shareholder returns.




=====================
S W I T Z E R L A N D
=====================

CREDIT SUISSE: UBS Wins EU Antitrust Approval to Acquire Bank
-------------------------------------------------------------
Foo Yun Chee at Reuters reports that UBS on May 25 won
unconditional EU antitrust approval to acquire Credit Suisse as
part of a government-orchestrated rescue of its Swiss rival.

According to Reuters, the European Commission said the deal would
not raise competition concerns in Europe, confirming a Reuters
story earlier this month.

"The combined entity will continue facing significant competitive
pressure from a wide range of competitors in all of those markets,
including several major global banks as well as specialist
providers and strong local players," Reuters quotes the EU
competition watchdog as saying in a statement.

UBS, which is twice as big as Credit Suisse by assets, agreed to
buy its competitor for CHF3 billion in stock and to assume up to
CHF5 billion in losses in March, in a shotgun merger engineered by
Swiss authorities to avert contagion in global banking, Reuters
discloses.


PEACH PROPERTY: Moody's Cuts CFR to Ba3, Outlook Remains Negative
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has downgraded to Ba3 from Ba2 the
corporate family rating of Peach Property Group AG (PPG or the
company), a Swiss listed real estate company focused on German
residential rental properties. At the same time Moody's downgraded
to B1 from Ba3 the backed senior unsecured instrument rating of
Peach Property Finance GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of PPG. The
outlook remains negative.

RATINGS RATIONALE

Moody's downgrade reflects (1) a weak Moody's adjusted fixed charge
coverage that stood at 1.5x as of December 31, 2022 and is not
expected to materially improve in the next 18 months driven by high
refinancing costs (2) elevated execution risk from a strategy that
is likely to rely on a combination of asset disposals in still
challenging investment markets and potentially fresh equity to
delever and begin to address the EUR300 million backed senior
unsecured bond maturing in November 2025. While PPG has so far
enjoyed good access to secured funding its level of unencumbered
assets, in Moody's view, is insufficient to fully refinance its
unsecured borrowings. Furthermore, access to unsecured funding
markets for many real estate companies is constrained for the
foreseeable future due to weak credit metrics.

More positively, Moody's expects PPG to continue its track record
of strong operating performance with good rental growth and lower
vacancy supported by the regulated German rental sector's
favourable fundamentals. Moody's-adjusted gross debt/total assets
stood at 56.7% as of December 31, 2022, and Moody's expects this
ratio to remain elevated with some further expected value
declines.

STRUCTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

In line with Moody's REITs and Other Commercial Real Estate Firms
methodology, PPG's Ba3 CFR references a senior secured rating
because secured funding forms most of the company's funding mix.
PPG's backed senior unsecured rating, issued by its subsidiary
Peach Property Finance GmbH, is B1, which is one notch below the
CFR to reflect the low level of unencumbered assets that provides
weak asset coverage for unsecured creditors.

OUTLOOK

The negative outlook reflects the changed business environment for
PPG, with increased interest rates weakening the outlook for
property values and increasing the marginal cost of debt, which
will put pressure on interest cover and make deleveraging highly
challenging. The negative outlook also reflects the limited time
for PPG to implement asset disposals or alternatively raise equity
over the next few quarters to deleverage and be able to timely
execute the refinancing of the upcoming debt maturities.

LIQUIDITY

PPG's liquidity is adequate. As of December 31, 2022, its sources
of liquidity including EUR31 million of cash and cash equivalents
EUR100 revolving credit facility of which EUR41 million was drawn.
The company does not have any major maturities until 2025.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS

An upgrade is unlikely given the negative outlook.

The ratings could be downgraded if:

-- The company do not make timely and material progress in
addressing its upcoming debt maturities, especially its unsecured
borrowings

-- Moody's-adjusted fixed charge coverage is not maintained at
least at 1.5x

-- Moody's-adjusted gross debt/total assets is materially above
its 56.7% level as of December 31, 2022, and Moody's-adjusted net
debt/EBITDA does not show a trajectory towards 20x over the next
couple of years

-- Weak operating performance and a vacancy rate that is
persistently and materially above market levels

LIST OF AFFECTED RATINGS

Downgrades:

Issuer: Peach Property Group AG

LT Corporate Family Rating, Downgraded to Ba3 from Ba2

Issuer: Peach Property Finance GmbH

BACKED Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture, Downgraded to B1
from Ba3

Outlook Actions:

Issuer: Peach Property Group AG

Outlook, Remains Negative

Issuer: Peach Property Finance GmbH

Outlook, Remains Negative

PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY

The principal methodology used in these ratings was REITs and Other
Commercial Real Estate Firms published in September 2022.

COMPANY PROFILE

PPG is a real estate company focused on residential investments in
Germany. The company is headquartered in Zurich and has been listed
on the SIX Swiss Exchange since 2010 (market capitalisation of
CHF253 million as of May 23, 2023), with its German group
headquarters in Cologne. As of December 31, 2022, the company owned
27,549 residential units with a total market value of EUR2.7
billion.




===========================
U N I T E D   K I N G D O M
===========================

BULB: Costs of Administration Expected to Reach Around GBP60MM
--------------------------------------------------------------
August Graham at Evening Standard reports that the cost of running
the administration of collapsed energy supplier Bulb will land at
around GBP60 million, MPs have been told.

Administrator Teneo said that its fees, those charged by its
lawyers and by the company that it hired to find a new buyer for
Bulb, will by around GBP10 million higher than had been the case up
to the end of January when the National Audit Office reported,
Evening Standard relates.

"At the time with the NAO report, the costs for the special
administrator, for the special administrator's legal advisors, and
for Lazard totalled GBP49.9 million at the end of January," Teneo's
Matt Cowlishaw told MPs on the Public Accounts Committee.

"In terms of thinking forward of what needs to be completed before
the final exit of the special administration, we expect those costs
to increase to around GBP60 million."

According to Evening Standard, Jeremy Pocklington, the permanent
secretary at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said
that the fees were not unreasonable.

"We scrutinised their fees carefully . . . and they have an
obligation to the court to ensure their fees are fair and
reasonable, and the court has also put in place a process to
scrutinise those," he told MPs.

"So I don't think we think the fees here are somehow untoward."

He added that the Government had been granted a discount to the
commercial rate, Evening Standard notes.

This will be part of the overall cost of Bulb’s collapse, which
is expected to heap a total of GBP246 million onto either energy
bills, or be paid by the Government, Evening Standard discloses.

Bulb collapsed into administration in the autumn of 2021, Evening
Standard recounts.  It was one of many suppliers to fail in a
tricky time when wholesale gas prices were soaring.

The others were dealt with through other processes, but Bulb was
just too big, with 1.6 million customers at the time of its
collapse.

Experts worried that if another company had to take on all those
customers, it could destabilise that company and create a domino
effect, Evening Standard notes.

But the Government is also expected to make a profit from the deal,
as Octopus Energy -- which has now bought Bulb -- will return
around GBP2.8 billion to the Treasury by either September next year
or the year after, according to Evening Standard.


NORIA 2018-1: DBRS Confirms C Rating on Class G Notes
-----------------------------------------------------
DBRS Ratings GmbH took the following rating actions on the notes
issued by Noria 2018-1 (the Issuer):

-- Class A Notes confirmed at AAA (sf)
-- Class B Notes upgraded to AA (high) (sf) from AA (sf)
-- Class C Notes upgraded to A (high) (sf) from A (sf)
-- Class D Notes upgraded to A (sf) from BBB (sf)
-- Class E Notes upgraded to BBB (high) (sf) from BB (high) (sf)
-- Class F Notes upgraded to BB (high) (sf) from B (high) (sf)
-- Class G Notes confirmed at C (sf)

The rating on the Class A Notes addresses the timely payment of
interest and the ultimate repayment of principal on or before the
legal final maturity date. The ratings on the Class B, Class C,
Class D, Class E, Class F, and Class G Notes address the ultimate
payment of interest and the ultimate repayment of principal on or
before the legal final maturity date in June 2038.

The rating actions follow an annual review of the transaction and
are based on the following analytical considerations:

-- Portfolio performance, in terms of delinquencies, defaults, and
losses as of the April 2023 payment date;

-- Probability of default (PD), loss given default (LGD), and
expected loss assumptions on the remaining receivables;

-- Current available credit enhancement to the rated notes to
cover the expected losses at their respective rating levels.

The transaction is a securitization collateralized by a portfolio
of personal, debt consolidation, and sales finance loans granted
and serviced by BNP Paribas Personal Finance. The transaction
closed in June 2018 and included a 12-month revolving period, which
ended in June 2019.

PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE

As of the April 2023 payment date, one- to two-month and two- to
three-month delinquencies represented 0.9% and 0.4% of the
outstanding portfolio balance, respectively, while loans more than
three months in arrears represented 0.3%. The cumulative default
amounted to 5.7% of the initial collateral balance including any
additional receivables purchased during the revolving period, with
cumulative recoveries of 29.1% to date.

PORTFOLIO ASSUMPTIONS AND KEY DRIVERS

DBRS Morningstar conducted a loan-by-loan analysis of the remaining
pool of receivables and updated its base case PD and LGD
assumptions to 4.6% and 58.0%, respectively.

CREDIT ENHANCEMENT

The subordination of the respective junior notes provides credit
enhancement to the rated notes. As of the April 2023 payment date,
credit enhancement to the Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D, Class
E, Class F, and Class G Notes has remained unchanged since closing
at 24.0%, 17.8%, 12.3%, 9.8%, 6.8%, 4.3%, and 0%, respectively,
because of the pro rata amortization of the notes. If a sequential
redemption event is triggered, the principal repayment of the notes
will become sequential and non-reversible until the higher-ranked
class of notes is fully redeemed.

The transaction benefits from a liquidity reserve of EUR 7.2
million as of April 2023. The reserve target amount is equal to 1%
of the outstanding balance of the Class A, Class B, Class C, and
Class D Notes with a floor of EUR 7.2 million. It is available to
cover senior expenses and swap payments. The reserve has been at
its target amount since closing.

BNP Paribas SA acts as the Special Dedicated Account Bank and the
Account Bank for the transaction. Based on the DBRS Morningstar
reference rating of BNP Paribas SA at AA, which is one notch below
its Long Term Critical Obligations Rating of AA (high), the
downgrade provisions outlined in the transaction documents, and
other mitigating factors inherent in the transaction structure,
DBRS Morningstar considers the risk arising from the exposure to
the account bank to be consistent with the ratings assigned to the
notes, as described in DBRS Morningstar's "Legal Criteria for
European Structured Finance Transactions" methodology.

BNP Paribas Personal Finance acts as the swap counterparty for the
transaction. DBRS Morningstar's private rating on BNP Paribas
Personal Finance is consistent with the First Rating Threshold as
described in DBRS Morningstar's "Derivative Criteria for European
Structured Finance Transactions" methodology.

Notes: All figures are in euros unless otherwise noted.


PIERPONT BTL 2023-1: Moody's Assigns B1 Rating to GBP2MM X Notes
----------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has assigned definitive ratings to Notes
issued by Pierpont BTL 2023-1 plc:

GBP235.97M Class A Mortgage Backed Floating Rate Notes due
September 2054, Definitive Rating Assigned Aaa (sf)

GBP18.95M Class B Mortgage Backed Floating Rate Notes due
September 2054, Definitive Rating Assigned Aa1 (sf)

GBP6.01M Class C Mortgage Backed Floating Rate Notes due September
2054, Definitive Rating Assigned A1 (sf)

GBP3.07M Class D Mortgage Backed Floating Rate Notes due September
2054, Definitive Rating Assigned Baa1 (sf)

GBP2.94M Class E Mortgage Backed Floating Rate Notes due September
2054, Definitive Rating Assigned Ba1 (sf)

GBP2.00M Class X Mortgage Backed Floating Rate Notes due September
2054, Definitive Rating Assigned B1 (sf)

RATINGS RATIONALE

The notes are backed by a pool of UK buy-to-let ("BTL") mortgage
loans originated by LendInvest BTL Limited ("LendInvest", NR). The
pool was acquired by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., London Branch
(Aa1/P-1 & Aa1(cr)/P-1(cr)) from the originator.

The portfolio of assets amounts to approximately GBP 267 million as
of 1 April 2023 pool cut-off date. The subordination for the Class
A Notes will be 11.6% excluding the liquidity reserve fund that
will be funded to 1% of the balance of Class A to B Notes at
closing. The liquidity reserve fund is available to pay senior
expenses, interest on Class A and subject to PDL on Class B being
less than 10% of that Class interest on Class B Notes. The release
amounts from the liquidity reserve fund will flow through the
principal waterfall.

The ratings are primarily based on the credit quality of the
portfolio, the structural features of the transaction and its legal
integrity.

Moody's determined the portfolio lifetime expected loss of 1.3% and
13% MILAN Credit Enhancement ("MILAN CE") related to borrower
receivables. The expected loss captures Moody's expectations of
performance considering the current economic outlook, while the
MILAN CE captures the loss Moody's expect the portfolio to suffer
in the event of a severe recession scenario. Expected loss and
MILAN CE are parameters used by Moody's to calibrate its lognormal
portfolio loss distribution curve and to associate a probability
with each potential future loss scenario in the ABSROM cash flow
model to rate RMBS.

Portfolio expected loss of 1.3% is based on Moody's assessment of
the lifetime loss expectation for the pool taking into account: (1)
the WA LTV of 73.8%; (2) the collateral performance of LendInvest
originated loans to date; (3) the performance of previously
securitised portfolios; (4) the current macroeconomic environment
in the UK; and (5) benchmarking with other UK BTL transactions.

MILAN CE for this pool is 13.0%, and takes into account the
following: (1) the WA current LTV for the pool of 73.8%; (2) the
share of self-employed borrowers of 9.3%, and legal entities of
79.1%; (3) 22.4% of the loans in the pool backed by multifamily
properties; and (4) benchmarking with similar UK BTL transactions.

Interest Rate Risk Analysis: 100.0% of the loans in the pool are
fixed rate loans reverting to three months LIBOR or Bank of England
base rate (BBR). The Notes are floating rate securities with
reference to daily SONIA. To mitigate the fixed-floating mismatch
between fixed-rate assets and floating rate liabilities, there will
be a scheduled notional fixed-floating interest rate swap provided
by J.P. Morgan SE (Aa1(cr)/P-1(cr)).

Principal Methodology

The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's
Approach to Rating RMBS Using the MILAN Framework" published in
July 2022.

The analysis undertaken by Moody's at the initial assignment of
ratings for RMBS securities may focus on aspects that become less
relevant or typically remain unchanged during the surveillance
stage.

Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the ratings:

Factors that would lead to a upgrade of the ratings include (1)
significantly better-than-forecast economic conditions, (2)
deleveraging of the capital structure and (3) better-than-expected
performance.

Factors that would lead to a downgrade of the ratings include
deterioration in the credit quality of the counterparties,
particularly the swap counterparty, and economic conditions being
worse than forecast resulting in worse than expected performance of
the underlying collateral.


PIERPONT BTL 2023-1: S&P Assigns BB+ Rating on E-Dfrd Notes
-----------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings assigned credit ratings to Pierpont BTL 2023-1
PLC's (Pierpont 2023-1) class A notes and class B-Dfrd to X-Dfrd
interest deferrable notes. Pierpont 2023-1 is a static RMBS
transaction that securitizes a portfolio of buy-to-let (BTL)
mortgage loans secured on properties in the U.K. LendInvest BTL
Ltd. originated the loans in the pool between August 2019 and
October 2022.

At closing, the issuer used the issuance proceeds to purchase the
full beneficial interest in the mortgage loans from the seller. The
issuer granted security over all its assets in favor of the
security trustee.

Credit enhancement for the rated notes consists of subordination
from the closing date and overcollateralization following the
step-up date, which will result from the release of the excess
amount from the liquidity reserve fund to the principal priority of
payments.

The transaction features a liquidity reserve fund to provide
liquidity in the transaction.

There are no rating constraints in the transaction under our
counterparty, operational risk, or structured finance sovereign
risk criteria. S&P's consider the issuer to be bankruptcy remote.

  Ratings

  CLASS    RATING*    CLASS SIZE (MIL. GBP)

  A        AAA (sf)     235.974

  B-Dfrd   AA- (sf)      18.953

  C-Dfrd   A (sf)         6.006

  D-Dfrd   BBB+ (sf)      3.070

  E-Dfrd   BB+ (sf)       2.936

  X-Dfrd   BBB (sf)       2.000

*S&P's ratings address timely receipt of interest and ultimate
repayment of principal for the class A notes, and the ultimate
payment of interest and principal on the other rated notes.


RAEDEX: Tycoon Allegedly Withheld Information From Fraud Probe
--------------------------------------------------------------
Joseph Draper at PA reports that a supercar tycoon is alleged to
have withheld information from a fraud investigation into a car
leasing company which collapsed with debts of GBP28 million.

According to PA, millionaire Tom Hartley, who has appeared on the
Sunday Times Rich List, is described on his website as the
"ultimate name in luxury, performance, and classic cars".

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on May 26 where he
pleaded not guilty to a charge of failing to comply with a
requirement of the director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO),
which is investigating Raedex Consortium, PA relates.

Raedex, which owned companies including Buy2Let Cars, PayGo Cars,
Wheels4Sure and Rent2Own Cars, has been under investigation since
2021 after it went into administration, PA notes.

Thousands of investors lost their savings after the company is
alleged to have used their money to lease cars to people with low
credit scores, PA discloses.

According to PA, the SFO said Hartley is suspected of holding
information related to a suspect in the case and had been asked to
provide this four times by investigators.


VODAFONE GROUP: S&P Rates EUR1.3BB Sub. Hybrid Securities 'BB+'
---------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings assigned its 'BB+' issue rating to the EUR1.3
billion equivalent subordinated hybrid securities issued by U.K.
telecom operator Vodafone Group PLC (BBB/Positive/A-2). The
tranches include euro-denominated junior subordinated hybrid bonds
with the first call in May 2029 and pound sterling
(GBP)-denominated junior subordinated hybrid bonds with the first
call in May 2031. S&P rates the securities two notches below the
issuer credit rating on the group to reflect the bonds'
subordination and optional interest deferability. S&P assesses the
securities as having intermediate equity content until their
respective first reset dates.

S&P said, "We view this as a liability management transaction that
will enable the company to refinance its subordinated hybrid bond
with first call in October 2023 and, partially, its hybrid that has
its first call in July 2024. Vodafone will use the EUR1.3 billion
proceeds from the new issuance, along with cash on the balance
sheet, to tender for hybrids totaling about EUR2.3 billion
equivalent, consisting of the EUR2 billion hybrid with a first call
date in October 2023 and up to EUR300 million equivalent of the
$1.3 billion hybrid with a first call date in July 2024.

"As a result, we are removing our intermediate equity content
assessment on the EUR2 billion hybrids with a first call date in
October 2023 and on the EUR300 million equivalent of the $1.3
billion hybrid with a first call date in July 2024 targeted in the
tender."

This operation could result in Vodafone reducing its hybrid stock
outstanding to about EUR9 billion, compared with about EUR10
billion currently. S&P views the potential net decrease in hybrids
of just below EUR1 billion (up to EUR2.3 billion tendered, less
EUR1.3 billion issued) or just below 10% of the total outstanding
hybrid stock as immaterial. This is because:

-- Vodafone remains committed to maintaining its layer of hybrid
    capital as a cushion in times of stress;

-- The announced redemption is within 10% of the group's total
    hybrid stock; and

-- The effect on Vodafone's credit metrics will be minimal,
    including a small increase in S&P Global Ratings-adjusted
    debt to EBITDA versus the meaningful rating headroom.

S&P said, "Therefore, we will continue to assess the remaining
hybrids outside this operation, including the issued EUR1.3 billion
new hybrids, as having intermediate equity content until their
first reset dates because we expect no further change in the amount
of hybrids outstanding, and have not changed our view of Vodafone's
intent regarding other hybrids in its capital structure.

"We categorize the proposed securities as having intermediate
equity content because they are subordinated to the company's
senior debt obligations, cannot be called for at least six years
for the euro-denominated tranche and at least eight years for the
GBP-denominated tranche, and are not subject to features that could
discourage or materially delay deferral.

"We derive our 'BB+' rating on the securities by notching down from
our 'BBB' long-term issuer credit rating on Vodafone." The
two-notch difference reflects our notching methodology, which calls
for deducting:

-- One notch for subordination because S&P's long-term rating on
Vodafone is 'BBB-' or above; and

-- An additional notch for payment flexibility, because the option
to defer interest stands with the issuer.

S&P said, "The notching indicates that we consider the issuer
relatively unlikely to defer interest. Should our view change, we
may increase the number of notches we deduct to derive the issue
rating.

"In addition, given our view of the proposed securities'
intermediate equity content, we allocate 50% of the related
payments on the securities as a fixed charge and 50% as equivalent
to a common dividend. The 50% treatment of principal and accrued
interest also applies to our adjustment of debt."

FEATURES OF THE HYBRID INSTRUMENTS

-- S&P understands that the newly issued securities and coupons
are intended to constitute the issuer's direct, unsecured, and
deeply subordinated obligations, ranking senior only to its common
shares.

-- S&P understands that the first interest reset date for the
euro-denominated tranche will be in August 2029 and for the
GBP-denominated tranche it will be in August 2031.

-- Vodafone can redeem the securities for cash up to 90 days
before the first interest reset date, and on every coupon payment
date thereafter. In addition, the company can call the instrument
at any time through a make-whole redemption option. S&P said, "We
understand that Vodafone has no intention of redeeming the
instrument before the redemption window of the first reset date,
and we do not consider that this type of make-whole clause creates
an expectation that the issue will be redeemed before then.
Accordingly, we do not view it as a call feature in our hybrid
analysis, even if it is referred to as a make-whole option clause
in the hybrid documentation."

-- The securities will mature in 61 years (for the
euro-denominated tranche) and 63 years (the GBP-denominated
tranche) but can be called at any time for a tax, rating, change of
control, or accounting event. If any of these events occurs,
Vodafone intends to replace the hybrid, but is not obliged to do
so. In S&P's view, this statement of intent mitigates the issuer's
ability to repurchase the security.

-- S&P said, "In our view, Vodafone's option to defer payment of
interest on the proposed securities is discretionary. It may
therefore choose not to pay accrued interest on an interest payment
date because it has no obligation to do so. However, Vodafone would
need to settle any outstanding deferred interest payment in cash if
it were to pay an equity dividend or interest on equal-ranking
securities, or if it were to repurchase common shares or
equal-ranking securities. That said, this condition remains
acceptable under our rating methodology because, once the issuer
has settled the deferred amount, it can choose to defer payment on
the next interest payment date."

-- S&P said, "The interest on the proposed securities will
increase by 25 basis points (bps) five years after the first reset
date, and a further 75 bps 20 years after the first reset date. We
view the cumulative 100 bps as a moderate step up, which provides
Vodafone with an incentive to redeem the instruments on their first
reset date. We are unlikely to recognize the instruments as having
intermediate equity content once their economic maturity falls
below 20 years, which would occur after the first reset date."

-- S&P said, "Until the first reset date, we expect to classify
the instruments as having intermediate equity content. We could
revise our assessment if we think that the issuer is likely to call
the instrument because it is about to lose the intermediate equity
content."


[*] UNITED KINGDOM: Insolvency Risk to Spread to Larger Companies
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Yasemin Craggs Mersinoglu at The Financial Times reports that
corporate distress caused by inflation and rising interest rates is
set to spread from smaller to larger UK companies, according to
recovery specialists Begbies Traynor and FRP Advisory.

Ric Traynor, executive chair of Begbies Traynor, said smaller
businesses had so far dominated rising levels of insolvencies and
driven the number of liquidations above pre-pandemic levels, the FT
relates.

According to the FT, the head of the Aim-traded group predicted
that the number of administrations, which he said typically
involved bigger companies, was likely to pass the same threshold
"towards the end of this calendar year".

Types of company insolvency procedures include creditors’
voluntary liquidations and administrations, the FT notes.  The
latter process was designed to save the business through
restructuring or sale to a third party, Traynor said, adding that
banks were generally involved "for a significant amount of money",
usually secured on the assets, the FT relays.

The number of company insolvencies rose after seasonal adjustment
to 5,747 in the first quarter of this year, an 18% increase
compared with the same period last year, according to government
data.  Insolvencies declined 4%, however, compared with the fourth
quarter of 2022, the FT discloses.

Meanwhile, administrations increased 16% to 318 during the first
quarter, compared with the same period last year, the FT states.
This marked a 12% drop from the fourth quarter of 2022, according
to the FT.

Despite this, Traynor said: "We expect to remain busy for the next
few years at heightened levels of insolvencies as a result of what
happened in the pandemic, Brexit, inflation [and] interest rates."

Construction was "always the biggest sector in terms of
insolvencies" with the industry often operating on "very fine"
profit margins that were affected by rising interest rates and
inflation, Traynor said.  Small, independent subcontractors
suffered first because of a slowdown in payments during
contractions, he added.

Traynor predicted that hospitality and retail companies would also
continue to produce insolvencies and were particularly vulnerable
as a result of inflation pushing up costs and declining consumer
spending.

Begbies Traynor has this year been appointed as administrator to
companies including stationery retailer Paperchase, Covid-19 test
provider Circular 1 Health, fair trade organisation Traidcraft and
cashless payment provider Tappit Technologies, the FT relays.
Traynor said the group generally dealt with cases involving
companies with assets of between GBP1 million and GBP50 millionn,
the FT discloses.

The group said in a year-end trading update last week that it
expected to post an 11% increase in revenue, reaching close to
GBP122 million for its financial year ended April 30, up from
GBP110 million a year ago, the FT recounts.  Organic growth was
about 6% in its business recovery activities.

Fellow corporate restructuring specialist FRP Advisory also
predicted, in a full-year trading update published this month, that
the administration market "should experience greater volumes"
during the 2024 financial year, the FT discloses.  It similarly
cited economic headwinds such as rising interest rates, input-cost
inflation, supply chain disruptions, Brexit and the withdrawal of
pandemic support measures, the FT notes.



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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-
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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.

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