Credit Lens: Europe & Beyond

About Credit Lens: Europe & Beyond

Credit Lens: Europe & Beyond explores the people, stories, and forces shaping credit across EMEA and beyond. Hosted by Octus editor Phoebe Appenteng and reporter Katie McMahon, Credit Lens: Europe & Beyond brings timely analysis and context on distressed debt, restructurings, new issuance, private capital flows, and the political and economic shifts moving markets. It is made for credit investors, legal advisors, syndicate desks, and anyone curious about how European credit really works. Each episode is smart, conversational, and focused on what matters most. New episodes every two weeks.

Publisher

Octus

Category

business · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

30 May 2025

Latest episode

21 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

26 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   21 Oct 2026

   The APAC Credit Scorecard: Australian Property, China’s Next Chapter and Tullow Oil’s Tax Ruling

   A year of APAC public high yield that has gone sideways: funds making 3-4% are feeling good, even 5% took real work, and a recent US double-B deal paying 10%-plus has allocators asking why they should be in Asia. Phoebe Appenteng (https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebeap/) and Katie McMahon (https://www.linkedin.com/in/krmcmahon/) are joined by Chaim Estulin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaim-estulin-7b72726/), Head of Asia at Octus (https://octus.com), to score the forecasts he made a year ago on the latest episode of Credit Lens: Europe & Beyond. The conversation covers why returns are low but still positive, with defaults largely absent (01:29), before turning to bank lending in India crowding out offshore bond issuance and domestic lenders refinancing offshore private credit at lower rates (03:10). It then moves to stress in Australian property, where a recent developer default has left roughly 3.5bn in claims, mostly held by private credit funds (06:33), and on to AI infrastructure, with 30-plus financing deals since January seeking more than 60bn, a PwC (https://www.pwc.co.uk/) estimate that Asia will need around 2.5 trillion over the next decade, and a US bill that could limit financing for data centers serving Chinese companies offshore (10:51). Segment two turns to Tullow Oil (https://www.tullowoil.com), where an arbitration tribunal awarded Ghana about 196.5m in a tax dispute, with the bonds falling to the mid-90s at an 18%-plus yield (16:12). Then Phoebe and Katie play a new game from producer Charlie (https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-hall-b2650b137/), “If It Were A…”, matching credits to film genres. Tullow is a long-running sequel, Thames Water (https://www.thameswater.co.uk) is a pilot episode, VMED O2 (https://www.virginmediao2.co.uk) is an ensemble musical, and the scores are due by year end (21:49). A clear read on where APAC credit sits now, and why Chaim thinks China is the one to watch. ----more---- Hosted by Phoebe Appenteng (https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebeap/) and Katie McMahon (https://www.linkedin.com/in/krmcmahon/). Guest: Chaim Estulin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaim-estulin-7b72726/), Head of Asia, Octus Produced by Charlie Hall (https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-hall-b2650b137/). Edited by Fawaz Muhammed (https://www.linkedin.com/in/fawaz-muhammed-172a391a5/). A Production of The Octus Podcast Network (https://octus.com/resources/the-octus-podcast-network/)

2. 

   8 Oct 2026

   EP 24 | Air Baltic's Chapter 11 and HelloFresh's Bond Nose Dive

   Air Baltic (https://www.airbaltic.com/) has landed in a New York courtroom, and HelloFresh (https://www.hellofreshgroup.com/) has watched a brand new bond shed 13 points in two months. Phoebe Appenteng (https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebeap/) and Katie McMahon (https://www.linkedin.com/in/krmcmahon/) work through both in the latest Credit Lens: Europe & Beyond. They open on Riga’s third appearance on the show, tracking how an unhedged fuel book and a failed interim financing plan pushed Air Baltic into Chapter 11 on September 14 (01:51). The interim deal would have come in at a 25% PIK coupon capitalizing monthly, super senior to the existing 2029 bonds (04:40). Bondholders rejected it. The new DIP financing of roughly 350 million euros now faces a potential priming fight (07:37). From there, the conversation turns to HelloFresh’s 350 million senior unsecured notes, issued in July and already quoted at 87 by early September (11:08). Revenue guidance has been cut to a 9% to 11% decline (15:28), marketing spend is being pulled mid-pivot into ready-to-eat (16:03), and the 2027 revolver sits unrefinanced inside the window. The episode closes with Mystery Box, a HelloFresh-themed cooking game prepared by producer Charlie (https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-hall-b2650b137/), where Katie and Phoebe match ingredients to actual HelloFresh recipes with mixed results (16:41). Two European credit stories where the story is who sets the terms when expectations shift. ----more---- Hosted by Phoebe Appenteng (https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebeap/) and Katie McMahon (https://www.linkedin.com/in/krmcmahon/). Produced by Charlie Hall (https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-hall-b2650b137/). Edited by Fawaz Muhammed (https://www.linkedin.com/in/fawaz-muhammed-172a391a5/). A Production of The Octus Podcast Network (https://octus.com/resources/the-octus-podcast-network/)

3. 

   3 Sept 2026

   EP 23 | Aston Martin's £550M Lifeline and the LME Blocker Problem

   Aston Martin (https://www.astonmartin.com/en-gb) just moved what looks like most of its intellectual property into a chain of Cayman Islands subsidiaries, and bondholders are still trying to figure out how it was allowed. Phoebe Appenteng (https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebeap/) and Katie McMahon (https://www.linkedin.com/in/krmcmahon/) take it on in the latest Credit Lens: Europe & Beyond, joined by Bart Capeci (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartcapeci/), Senior Covenants Analyst at Octus (https://octus.com/), and Aditya Khanna (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aditya-khanna-aa696721/), Head of EMEA Legal Research at Octus. The conversation opens on the £550 million HPS (https://www.hpspartners.com/) facility, £450 million upfront with a £100 million delayed draw tied to IP transfer (01:00), before working through the joint venture structure that appears to sidestep the J. Crew blocker in the bonds (03:47). Bondholders, now organized at roughly 90%, have filed in New York to compel discovery ahead of an English challenge under the Insolvency Act (05:12). Aditya then widens the lens to why fewer than half of European bond deals carry a J. Crew blocker, and why over two-thirds of those that do have a material defect (16:12). A grounded look at why the LME playbook is landing in Europe faster than the documentation can catch up. The episode ends with Phoebe on the hot seat for a quick quiz. ----more---- Hosted by Phoebe Appenteng (https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebeap/) and Katie McMahon (https://www.linkedin.com/in/krmcmahon/). Guests: Bart Capeci (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartcapeci/), Senior Covenants Analyst, Octus, and Aditya Khanna (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aditya-khanna-aa696721/), Head of EMEA Legal Research, Octus. Produced by Charlie Hall (https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-hall-b2650b137/). Edited by Fawaz Muhammed (https://www.linkedin.com/in/fawaz-muhammed-172a391a5/). A Production of The Octus Podcast Network (https://octus.com/resources/the-octus-podcast-network/)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Spotify

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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