Article/Intelligence
Aston Martin Soft Sounding Market for £1.1B Equivalent SSNs
Credit Research: Cedrick Cassin, Mengdi Zhang, Manuel Coelho, Jennifer Chan Reporting: Beatrice Mavroleon Relevant Items: 2023 Equity Raise Covenant Analysis Historical Financials on Fundamentals by Reorg FY23 Preliminary Report FY23 Presentation 2025 SSNs Primary Analysis Aston Martin’s series of fixed-income investor meetings, which could lead to the launch of a notes offering, have reportedly received muted response from investors in light of the slow business turnaround and the group’s punchy cash burn rate in recent years, sources told Reorg. Over the past 10 years, the U.K.-headquartered luxury automaker has recorded yearly cash burns almost every year, which were covered by significant cash injections from its deep-pocketed shareholders. In 2023 alone, £260 million was burned on an unlevered basis and as much as £380 million after accounting for interest payments. The road show, held in the last couple of days, was intended to test investor demand for the issuance of £1.1 billion equivalent USD- and GBP-denominated, five- or seven-year senior secured bonds, with proceeds primarily used to refinance the $1.1 billion first lien secured notes due in 2025 and the remaining $122 million of second lien notes. According to available source information, it would be a leverage neutral transaction, with net[...]