Phoebe Appenteng opens at and Katie McMahon sets the Update Corner format at (00:08). Petrofac begins at (00:52): a once solid engineering group tries to buy time under Part 26A, then loses the anchor TenneT contract and tips into High Court administration. The segment covers expected recoveries, dissenting creditors, and whether Saipem and Samsung benefit.

Kloeckner Pentaplast starts at (08:34): the German plastics group chooses a pre packaged Chapter 11 in the Southern District of Texas, cutting about €1.3B of funded debt with approximately €215M in DIP financing and a lenders take keys outcome. Why Chapter 11 over domestic tools, who is advising, and how quickly they can emerge. Great British Railways begins at (12:26): legislation lands and the consolidation starts. The early focus is digital, merging fourteen operator apps into a single GBR platform, creating a retail unit, and drafting a Code of Practice to protect third party retailers.

AI in Retail starts at (15:41): Currys holds roughly three quarters of UK AI laptop sales, Apple Intelligence launches in the UK, and the story moves from hype to hardware. The credit angle is demand, margins, and financing models for higher priced devices.

Afternoon Tea lands at (19:32): arrests in the Louvre jewel heist with melted gold fragments recovered and one piece still missing. Close at (22:40) with credits and subscribe.

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Hosted by Phoebe Appenteng & Katie McMahon

Produced and Edited by: Tanya Hubbard

A Production of The Octus Podcast Network

Merlin Entertainments might be best known for Legoland and Madame Tussauds, but at 00:00:17, the magic starts to fade. Phoebe Appenteng and Katie McMahon unpack how a 2027 refinancing, falling EBITDA, and a triple C downgrade have turned the world’s second-largest theme park group into a test of financial creativity. By 00:06:55, the sale of Lego Discovery Centres to part-owner Kirkbi raises questions about whether the move was strategic or simply a lifeline.

At 00:07:04, Octus Senior Editor Magnus Scherman joins from Kyiv to discuss how Ukrainian companies are staying solvent through the war. From Ukrainian Railways to Metinvest, he explains how these businesses have continued servicing debt while managing destroyed assets, governance challenges, and limited funding options. By 00:12:01, he details the sudden firing and reinstatement of Ukraine Agro’s management team and what it means for investor confidence.

By 00:15:00, the focus shifts to Metinvest’s struggle to rebuild after losing key mines and paying large dividends during wartime. Phoebe, Katie, and Magnus explore what resilience looks like when every balance sheet reflects both survival and strategy.

At 00:20:09, the team closes with a quick round of Guess the Credit, covering everything from First Brands’ bankruptcy to France’s political upheaval and the rise of private credit money chasing higher yields. By 00:25:27, they wrap with a look ahead to the Octus London Credit Forum on October 23 and a reminder that even in quieter markets, credit never stands still.

Hosts: Phoebe Appenteng and Katie McMahon Guest: Magnus Scherman Producer: Tanya Hubbard Network: Octus Podcast Network

Phoebe Appenteng and Katie McMahon open with Intralot’s groundbreaking return to the primary markets, four years after executing Europe’s first aggressive liability management exercise. What began as a distressed Greek gaming company has transformed into a case study in creditor-led restructuring tactics. Nikhil Varsani, Financial Analyst at Octus, joins (02:28) to dissect how Intralot’s 2021 drop-down transaction cracked open Europe’s LME playbook and why its recent debt issuance signals broader market evolution.

From there (13:06), the conversation shifts to Tullow Oil’s mounting liquidity pressures. Once Ghana’s crown-jewel asset, the Africa-focused oil company now faces €1.285 billion in 2026 maturities with dwindling options. Recent asset disposals in Kenya and Gabon provide temporary relief, but with Jubilee Field valuations plummeting from $2.8 billion to $1.6 billion, refinancing talks grow increasingly complex. The hosts examine whether management can engineer another successful refinancing or if an amend and extend becomes inevitable.

This episode’s unofficial sponsor, Premium European Fashion Retailers (22:47), makes its pitch to affluent buyers still splurging despite economic headwinds. The tongue-in-cheek ad highlights consumer-market bifurcation before Phoebe Appenteng and Katie McMahon pivot to rapid-fire EMEA headlines, weighing sponsor pressure against covenant capacities across multiple sectors.

The show closes with Lightning Round EMEA (23:34), where underwhelming earnings from Altice France and Cerba collide with Merlin Entertainments’ covenant complexities. The exchange underscores how operational underperformance increasingly rules out straightforward refinancing, forcing sponsors and creditors into creative solutions. The hosts remind listeners that European credit markets operate in cycles and that aggressive tactics once considered American imports are now firmly embedded in the regional playbook.

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Hosted by: Phoebe Appenteng & Katie McMahon Guest: Nikhil Varsani Produced and Edited by: Tanya Hubbard A Production of: The Octus Podcast Network