UPDATE 1: First Brands Working With A&M as FA

Thu Sep 18, 2025 05:50 PM ET: First Brands Group is working with Alvarez & Marsal as financial advisor, according to sources.

A capital structure as of March 2025, before the proposed refinancing, is shown below:
 

First Brands and A&M did not respond to requests for comment.

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Original Story 6:15 p.m. UTC on Sep. 17, 2025

First Brands, Lenders Working With Advisors for Restructuring Contingency Amid Difficult Refi

First Brands Group is working with Weil Gotshal as legal advisor and Lazard as financial advisor to evaluate its options, including a restructuring contingency, as it wrestles with questions about the quality of its financial reporting and over $4.5 billion of debt maturities in 2027, according to sources.

An ad hoc group of term lenders to the auto aftermarket parts maker is working with Gibson Dunn as legal advisor, the sources said.

The developments came as First Brands’ path to a straightforward refinancing of its 2027 maturities has become increasingly complicated in recent weeks, according to sources. After the company paused its refinancing in August, lenders have been awaiting news of a quality of earnings, or QoE, report, from Deloitte, as reported.

First Brands’ approximately $2 billion dollar-denominated term loans due 2027 are quoted down another 10 points today to a 75 context, compared with a mid-90s context earlier last week and a slump to the mid-80s in block trades on Sept. 12, according to sources.

Lenders that are selling their holdings are grappling with the risk of the company being unable to get a clean QoE report, which has been delayed to a mid-to-late October time frame, Octus reported yesterday, Sept. 16. A clean QoE is crucial for First Brands to tap debt markets or any efforts in the private credit space, sources noted.

Adding to the market volatility is a press report from Sept. 12 that drew attention to Apollo’s bespoke credit default swap position, which would see the asset manager benefit if First Brands is unable to pay its debt or encounters other relevant credit events. Apollo’s credit default swap position has existed for at least a few months, and there may not be a secondary CDS market for First Brands, according to sources. The thesis for Apollo’s short position rests on the company’s large use of factoring and reverse factoring, as reported. The company has ample liquidity, with cash on hand north of $800 million, Octus reported.

A list of CLO holders is HERE. The top five largest holders of the loan and their holdings are as follows, according to Octus CLO Insights:
 

• PGIM, with $231.7 million of exposure as of Aug. 31;
   
• CIFC Asset Management, with $202 million as of Aug. 6;
   
• Blackstone Inc., with $140 million of exposure as of Aug. 6;
   
• AGL CLO Credit Management, with $121.3 million as of Aug. 6; and
   
• Sound Point Capital Management, with $113.1 million as of July 31.
   

Octus’ Private Company Analysis has published on First Brands, most recently with an update in relation to the refinancing.

First Brands, Weil Gotshal, Lazard, Gibson Dunn and Apollo did not respond to requests for comment.