S&P rates Athena, loan B

S&P said it assigned preliminary B ratings to Athena Holdco SAS, the holding company for the April Group, and its new €1.2 billion term loan that will be borrowed through Athena Bidco SAS. Athena will also secure a €200 million revolving credit facility. The outlook is stable.

“The rating is constrained by April's high leverage and financial sponsor ownership,” S&P said in a press release. The agency is forecasting April’s adjusted leverage at 6.6x at end-2024 decreasing to about 6x in 2025 on the back of EBITDA growth, absent any further debt-funded acquisitions or shareholder distributions.

April plans to use the term loan to refinance €920 million of debt, fund the acquisition of DLPK and pay earnouts related to the recent acquisition of Lexham.

“The stable outlook reflects our view that April will continue to see strong revenue and EBITDA growth,” S&P said.

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