Moody’s assigns Athena, facility B1

Moody’s Investors Service said it assigned a B1 corporate family rating and a B1-PD probability of default rating to Athena Holdco SAS. Concurrently, the agency assigned a B1 to the backed term loan senior secured bank credit facility issued by Athena Bidco SAS. The outlook for both entities is stable.

Owned by KKR, Athena Holdco is the ultimate parent of April Group. “The B1 CFR on Athena reflects April's solid business profile, as well as its strong track record in terms of level of margins and stability and predictability of earnings through the cycle. The rating remains constrained by the increased debt burden following the refinancing transaction and recent acquisitions, as well as the lack of broad geographic diversification of April's activities, and execution risks linked to the group's recurring external growth strategy,” Moody’s said in a press release.

April will use the planned €1.2 billion backed term loan to refinance €920 million of outstanding senior facilities and to finance the acquisition of the broker DLPK.

“The stable outlook reflects Moody's view that Athena's leverage ratio will remain between 5.5x and 6.5x in the next 12-18 months and that profitability will be maintained in 2024, as evidenced by an EBITDA margin in the 25%-30% range,” the agency said.

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