Grupo Antolin to Start Debt Talks Ahead of Springing Maturity in October 2027 With Houlihan Lokey, K&E and Gomez Acebo Advising; Bondholders Form SteerCo, Mandate A&M and Milbank

Relevant Documents:
Financial Report
Presentation

Spanish autoparts supplier Grupo Antolin is set to start talks with creditors over its capital structure with Houlihan Lokey assisting it as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis and Gomez Acebo y Pombo mandated as legal advisors, sources told Octus.

Bondholders formed a steering committee, or SteerCo, which comprises Benefit Street Partners, BlackRock, Five Arrows, HPS, Invesco and Spire, and mandated Alvarez & Marsal and Milbank as financial and legal advisors, respectively. The group currently represents over 25% of the bonds and is growing, the sources said.

Antolin’s cap stack includes a €52.4 million Amortizing EIB Facility due April 2028, a €380 million senior secured bond due April 2028, a €193.6 million RCF due June 2029, €162.2 million of which was drawn as of March 2026, a €243 million term loan A due June 2029, a €250 million senior secured bond due January 2030 and a €150 million ICO-backed syndicated loan due August 2032.

The term loan A and the RCF are subject to a springing maturity to Oct. 29, 2027, if the 2028 SSNs are not refinanced in full on or prior to Oct. 29, 2027. This has prompted the company to kickstart a process despite having received €142 million from the disposal of the Indian assets in January, the sources said.

Antolin reported first-quarter 2026 numbers in early May. Net turnover was €852 million for the three-month period, a 13.5% decrease from the previous year, primarily due to lower program volumes and currency impacts. EBITDA fell by 30.4% to €66 million, with the margin contracting to 7.8%.

In its first-quarter earnings report, the company said it had secured waivers for its senior facility agreement, or SFA, ICO-backed syndicated loan and EIB facilities until the end of 2026, to address the net financial debt/EBITDA ratio being above the 3.5x covenant level.

Total liquidity as of March 31, was €371 million, down from €441 million as of December 2025, comprising €314 million in cash and €57 million in available revolving credit facilities.

Antolin had a cash burn (as defined by the company) of €3 million in the quarter despite receiving net proceeds of €142 million from the sale of Indian operations.

Liquidity remains the key challenge for the company. The group has said in the past that the minimum cash balance needed to run the business is about €150 million and there is about €50 million of cash trapped at the joint ventures and €50 million credit lines are for the Chinese subsidiaries. So available liquidity at the end of the first quarter was only about €120 million, according to Octus’ calculations.

On April 29, S&P Global Ratings downgraded Antolin to CCC+ from B-, with a negative outlook. Without additional sources of funding, the group faces the risk of a liquidity crunch if the springing maturity becomes current, the ratings agency noted, adding that while management is considering measures to strengthen the balance sheet, the lack of detail on magnitude and timeliness does not allow it to assess if these will be sufficient to support the group’s refinancing needs.

The 2028 and 2030 bonds are quoted at 60-mid and 58-mid, respectively, down from the low 70s area in early March, according to Solve. The bonds have not traded much, but distressed funds are circling the situation, should the debt price drop further, sources noted.