WHO IT’S FOR
For credit professionals: analysts, portfolio managers, lawyers and originators. Assumes working familiarity with high yield documentation.
Aston Martin: How did they do it and could it happen to me?
A creditor group held a majority of the notes and couldn’t stop the transaction that primed them, because nothing was put to a vote. This hour-long mini-course reads the documents to explain why.
THE STORY
On July 22nd, Aston Martin raised £450m of new senior secured debt from funds managed by HPS. A group holding more than half of roughly $1.80bn-equivalent of the notes had organized, retained counsel and demanded the company stop; the financing closed the next day. There was no amendment and no consent solicitation, because nothing about the notes changed - the company used capacity the noteholders had already agreed to at issuance. This course works through the offering memorandum for the 2029 senior secured notes and shows how, in verbatim extracts you read yourself, working the mechanics.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end you’ll be able to:
- Distinguish an Unrestricted Subsidiary from a non-Guarantor Restricted Subsidiary, and explain why a J.Crew blocker applicable to one has nothing to say about the other
- Distinguish a Permitted Lien from a Permitted Collateral Lien, and find the test that applies to each
- State what a borrower is required to report on a transaction of this kind, and what it can decline to disclose
- Read the amendment thresholds and see why releasing the liens on all or substantially all of the Collateral takes 66 2/3% while changing a coupon takes 90% of affected holders
WHAT’S INSIDE
Three modules, four clause labs and a scored assessment – just under an hour end to end. Every provision quoted is taken verbatim from the offering memorandum dated March 13th, 2024, cited by page. We also indicate where something has not been disclosed by the company.
ACCESS
If you’re an FLT client, the course is open to you now, just use your login details for the new platform to access it. If we haven’t worked together yet, click on our course catalog for two weeks’ free access to the course.