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       T R O U B L E D   C O M P A N Y   R E P O R T E R

                          E U R O P E

          Thursday, April 29, 2021, Vol. 22, No. 80

                           Headlines



F R A N C E

ELIS SA: Moody's Affirms Ba2 CFR & Alters Outlook to Stable


G E O R G I A

GEORGIAN OIL: Fitch Affirms 'BB' Foreign Currency IDR, Outlook Neg.


G E R M A N Y

DIOK REAL ESTATE: S&P Alters Outlook to Neg., Affirms 'B' Rating


G R E E C E

DANAOS CORP: S&P Gives 'B+' Issuer Credit Rating, Outlook Positive
GREECE: S&P Raises Long-Term Sovereign Credit Rating to 'BB'


I R E L A N D

ARBOUR CLO IX: Moody's Gives (P)B3 Rating to EUR12M Class F Notes
AVOCA CLO XXIII: Fitch Assigns B-(EXP) Rating to Class F Tranche
CARLYLE EURO 2021-1: Moody's Gives (P)B3 Rating to EUR10M E Notes
DRYDEN 88: Moody's Assigns (P)B2 Rating to EUR9.8M Class F Notes
JOE WALSH: Halts Trading After Pandemic Hits Operations

PROVIDUS CLO IV: Moody's Gives (P)B3 Rating to EUR11.6M F-R Notes
ROCKFORD TOWER 2021-1: Moody's Rates EUR12MM Class F Notes 'B3'
ROCKFORD TOWER 2021-1: S&P Assigns B- (sf) Rating on Class F Notes
SCULPTOR CLO II: Moody's Assigns (P)B3 Rating to EUR12M F-R Notes


L U X E M B O U R G

FLINT HOLDCO: S&P Alters Outlook to Stable, Affirms 'CCC+' Ratings


N E T H E R L A N D S

EAGLE INTERMEDIATE: Moody's Hikes CFR to Caa1 on Improved Earnings
TMF SAPPHIRE: S&P Raises Sr. Sec. Debt Rating to B, Outlook Stable


R U S S I A

BANK ZENIT: Moody's Cuts Bank Deposit Ratings to B1 on Net Losses
SUEK JSC: Moody's Affirms Ba2 CFR & Alters Outlook to Stable
TMK: S&P Lowers Rating to 'B+' on Weak Credit Metrics, Outlook Neg.
VSK: Fitch Alters Outlook on 'BB' IFS Rating to Stable


S P A I N

CODERE SA: Moody's Lowers CFR to Ca & Alters Outlook to Negative
FTA UCI 16: S&P Raises Class B Notes Rating to 'BB- (sf)'
FTA UCI 17: S&P Raises Class B Notes Rating to 'CCC+ (sf)'


S W E D E N

TRANSCOM TOPCO: S&P Affirms 'CCC+' Ratings, Outlook Negative


U K R A I N E

INTERPIPE HOLDINGS: Fitch Rates Proposed Bond Issue 'B(EXP)'


U N I T E D   K I N G D O M

CPUK FINANCE: Fitch Rates Upcoming Class B6 Notes 'B(EXP)'
DEBENHAMS: Unex Group Acquires Ipswich Store
LIBERTY PRESSING: MP Wants UK Gov't. to Step in to Rescue Business
ST MICHAEL'S HOME: Goes Into Liquidation Amid Pandemic
TRAVELPLANNERS: Halts Trading, To Undergo Liquidation

WARD RECYCLING: Goes Into Liquidation Following GBP1MM+ Losses
[*] UK: Scottish Enterprise Writes Off GBP131 Million

                           - - - - -


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F R A N C E
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ELIS SA: Moody's Affirms Ba2 CFR & Alters Outlook to Stable
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Moody's Investors Service has affirmed Elis S.A.'s ratings
including the Ba2 corporate family rating, the Ba2-PD probability
of default rating, the (P)Ba2 rating on the EUR4 billion backed
Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) programme, and the Ba2 ratings on the
backed senior notes due 2023 and 2026. The outlook has been changed
to stable from negative.

"The rating action reflects Elis' resilient operating performance
through the pandemic and our expectation that a gradual recovery in
revenue in the hospitality end market will lead to credit metrics
more commensurate with the Ba2 CFR over the next 12-18 months",
says Eric Kang, a Moody's Vice President -- Senior Analyst and lead
analyst on Elis. "However, there could be unfavourable structural
changes which could hinder a recovery in revenue to pre-crisis
level over the next 12-18 months such as less frequent business
travel or more remote working", adds Mr Kang.

RATINGS RATIONALE

Elis' Ba2 CFR reflects the resilience of its revenue and margins
through the pandemic as well as past-economic cycles. While revenue
declined by 13.3% organically in 2020, management's EBITDA margin
increased to 33.8% from 33.6% in 2019 thanks to staff and factory
cost reductions, governmental support such as partial unemployment
schemes, and fixed cost reductions including overheads and
headquarters costs.

Moody's expects Elis' revenue to recover to around EUR3.1 billion
in 2022 from EUR2.8 billion in 2020, which is around 5% lower than
the level of 2019 because of lower business travel and more
frequent remote working, even if mobility restrictions are fully
lifted. However, Moody's expects management's EBITDA margin to
remain at current levels or slightly improve because some of the
fixed cost reductions achieved during the pandemic will result in
permanent savings.

The gradual recovery in revenue over the next 12-18 months will
support a reduction in Moody's-adjusted debt/EBITDA to around 4.0x
from 4.5x at year-end 2020. The rating agency also expects
Moody's-adjusted free cash flow/debt to remain around 5% in 2021,
before reducing towards 2.5% in 2022 based on Moody's expectation
that the company will resume dividend payments. These level of
credit metrics will better position the rating at Ba2.

LIQUIDITY

Moody's views Elis' liquidity as adequate. As of December 31, 2020,
the company had unrestricted cash balances of EUR111 million. Its
revolving credit facilities (RCFs) of EUR500 million and EUR400
million were undrawn, although these committed facilities provide a
backup for the EUR600 million commercial paper programme, of which
EUR318 million was outstanding as of December 31, 2020.

Moody's expects the company to maintain sufficient headroom under
the net leverage financial maintenance covenant which applies to
the RCFs and the US private placement (USPP) debt. The covenant,
which is tested semi-annually, is set at 4.5x for June 2021, but
will reduce to its original level of 3.75x afterwards. Moody's
expects the reported net leverage to gradually reduce to around
3.3x-3.5x over the next 12-18 months.

Excluding the commercial paper programme, which is short-term in
nature, the next largest debt maturity is in 2023 when the EUR650
million notes, and the EUR365 million convertible notes mature. The
EUR500 million RCF expires in January 2022, while the EUR400
million RCF expires in 2023.

STRUCTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

The (P)Ba2 unsecured rating of the EMTN programme as well as the
Ba2 instrument ratings on the EUR650 million EMTN notes due 2023
and EUR350 million EMTN notes due 2026 are at the same level as the
Ba2 CFR. The EMTN notes and the high-yield notes have a pari passu
ranking alongside Elis' other bank facilities. All these facilities
are unsecured and have a weak level of guarantee from operating
companies.

RATING OUTLOOK

The stable outlook assumes that Elis' earnings will continue
improving over the next 12 to 18 months, leading to
Moody's-adjusted debt/EBITDA of around 4.0x and free cash flow/debt
in the low to mid-single percentage digits.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS

Positive rating pressure could develop if there is a sustained
recovery in revenue and earnings that lead to (1) Moody's-adjusted
debt/EBITDA sustainably decreases towards 3.5x, (2)
Moody's-adjusted free cash flow/debt of around 5% on a sustained
basis, and (3) the company maintaining a good liquidity position
including ample covenant headroom.

Downward rating pressure could materialize if (1) Moody's-adjusted
debt/EBITDA fails to sustainably reduce towards 4.0x, (2)
Moody's-adjusted free cash flow/debt weakens towards 1% or below on
a sustainable basis, or (3) liquidity weakens.

PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY

The principal methodology used in these ratings was Business and
Consumer Service Industry published in October 2016.

COMPANY PROFILE

Elis is a France-based multiservice provider of flat linen, garment
and washroom appliances, water fountains, coffee machines, dust
mats and pest control services. The company reported revenue of
EUR2.8 billion in 2020.



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G E O R G I A
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GEORGIAN OIL: Fitch Affirms 'BB' Foreign Currency IDR, Outlook Neg.
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Fitch Ratings has affirmed JSC Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation's
(GOGC) Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at
'BB' with a Negative Outlook and simultaneously withdrawn the
ratings.

The affirmation reflects Fitch's expectation that GOGC will be able
to deleverage to within Fitch's rating sensitivities from 2022 on
improved EBITDA from the electricity generation segment, following
an expected leverage spike in 2021. The rating is also supported by
GOGC's monopoly in oil and gas transportation in Georgia and the
company's role as the state's agent in the power sector.

The Negative Outlook mirrors that of Georgia (BB/Negative), as per
Fitch's Government-Related Entities (GRE) Rating Criteria. Fitch
rates GOGC by applying a one-notch uplift to Its Standalone Credit
Profile (SCP) of 'bb-' to arrive at the same rating as Georgia, the
ultimate source of potential support to the company.

The ratings have been withdrawn for commercial reasons. Fitch will
no longer provide ratings or analytical coverage of GOGC.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Eurobond Refinancing: At end-September 2020, GOGC signed a loan
agreement with EBRD for an EUR217 million senior unsecured loan,
which is sufficient to cover short-term maturities of USD250
million Eurobonds due on 26 April 2021.

Electricity Offsets Gas-Margin Decline: Fitch expects a decline in
the gas-supply margin due to significantly lower social gas selling
price as a result of local currency devaluation and the coronavirus
pandemic, which will weigh on 2020-2021 EBITDA. However, this would
be offset by additional EBITDA contribution from Gardabani-2 power
plant of around USD20million in 2021 and a further USD25 million
EBITDA from Gardabani-3 (272 megawatts) from mid-2023. This,
together with an increased contribution of cheaper purchased gas
(from the Shah Deniz 2 field) to total gas purchases, would also
support GOGC's earnings.

Supportive Regulation: The Gardabani-1 plant operates as a
guaranteed electricity provider receiving a capacity fee, while
electricity sales are equal to its fuel costs. The government
guarantees a 12.5% internal rate of return (IRR) over the asset's
life. For the planned Gardabani-3 plant, Fitch expects the state to
guarantee a minimum electricity sale tariff of
USD0.055/kilowatt-hour (kWh), 1,200 kWh of annual power purchases
for 14 years and a fixed gas price, as it has done for Gardabani-2.
These support schemes underline the strength of GOGC's ties with
the state. Fitch expects GOGC's electricity generation segment with
favourable regulation to represent above 70% of EBITDA in
2021-2024.

Credit Metrics Weakening Temporary: Fitch forecasts funds from
operations (FFO) net leverage to rise in 2021 to slightly below
4.0x, which is above Fitch's negative rating sensitivity of 3.5x,
on the back of high capex, and lower EBITDA from gas sales.
However, increasing EBITDA from the generation segment would
support gradual deleveraging to below 3.5x from 2022.

Debt-Funded Capex: Fitch's forecasts are based on two major
debt-funded projects, Gardabani-3 CCPP (to be operated from
mid-2023) and an underground gas-storage (UGS) facility, the latter
of which Fitch expects to be delayed. Most of GOGC's capex is
discretionary and can either be reduced or be rescheduled depending
on the company's performance and the availability and structure of
funding. Fitch views the large size of these projects entrusted to
GOGC by the state as a risk due to the significant expenditure
required and completion risk. However, the projects have sound
economics backed by government support, which reduces the negative
impact of these projects on GOGC's credit profile.

Large Receivables: GOGC's SCP is also constrained by large
receivables from a single counterparty, SOCAR Gas Export and Import
(SGEI). GOGC's receivables from SGEI are guaranteed by the State
Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR; BB+/Negative, SCP
b+). If receivables are overdue by more than 30 days, GOGC can
demand interest payment to be made by SOCAR on these receivables.
At end-2020, receivables from SGEI exceeded GEL100 million due to
increased gas consumption volumes in winter.

GRE Assessment: Fitch views the overall linkage of GOGC with the
sovereign as strong under Fitch's criteria for GREs. It is
reflected in Fitch's 'Strong' assessment of the status, ownership
and control, record of support and socio-political implication of
default, as well as 'Moderate' assessment of financial implications
of default. GOGC is indirectly 100%-owned by the state, while its
operations and investment plans are overseen by the state. As part
of recent state support, GOGC will not pay dividends to the parent
from 2021.

DERIVATION SUMMARY

The rating of GOGC incorporates a one-notch uplift to its SCP of
'bb-' to arrive at the same rating as the sovereign's. GOGC's
rating is supported by 100% indirect state ownership and by strong
management and governance linkages with the sovereign.

KEY ASSUMPTIONS

Fitch's key assumptions within its rating case for the issuer
include:

-- Further pressure on 2020-2021 gas-supply margins, due to
    lowered average social gas sale price to average USD90/mcm;

-- Cheaper gas from Shah Deniz-2 field gradually increasing with
    significant flows from 2022;

-- Gardabani-2 in operation since 2020; Gardabani-3 CCPP to be
    operated from mid-2023 with total capex of USD200 million;

-- Total capex averaging GEL270 million p.a. in 2021-2024,
    assuming UGS construction delay;

-- No dividends from 2021.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Not applicable

BEST/WORST CASE RATING SCENARIO

International scale credit ratings of Non-Financial Corporate
issuers have a best-case rating upgrade scenario (defined as the
99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in a positive
direction) of three notches over a three-year rating horizon; and a
worst-case rating downgrade scenario (defined as the 99th
percentile of rating transitions, measured in a negative direction)
of four notches over three years. The complete span of best- and
worst-case scenario credit ratings for all rating categories ranges
from 'AAA' to 'D'. Best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings are
based on historical performance.

LIQUIDITY AND DEBT STRUCTURE

Adequate Liquidity: At end-2020, GOGC had short-term maturities of
USD250 million, which are fully represented by the Eurobonds due in
April 2021 and are refinanced on 26 April 2021 by the unsecured
EUR217 million amortising 10-year loan from EBRD, with annual
interest of EURIBOR plus 3.3%. In addition, at end-March 2021, GOGC
had cash and cash-equivalents of around USD20 million. GOGC is
planning bond issues during 2022-2023 to refinance the EBRD loan
and raise additional funding for its capex projects.

PUBLIC RATINGS WITH CREDIT LINKAGE TO OTHER RATINGS

Fitch rates GOGC by applying a one-notch uplift to its SCP to
arrive at the same rating as Georgia.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS

Unless otherwise disclosed in this section, the highest level of
ESG credit relevance is a score of '3'. This means ESG issues are
credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity,
either due to their nature or the way in which they are being
managed by the entity. As a result of the rating withdrawal Fitch
will no longer provide ESG Relevance Scores on the issuer.



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G E R M A N Y
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DIOK REAL ESTATE: S&P Alters Outlook to Neg., Affirms 'B' Rating
----------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on Germany-based office
property owner Diok Real Estate AG (Diok) to negative from stable,
and affirmed its 'B' long-term issuer rating on the company and its
'B-' rating on its senior unsecured debt.

The negative outlook indicates that S&P could lower the ratings in
the next 12 months if the company fails to increase its cash flow
base, and its capital structure becomes increasingly unsustainable
with shrinking liquidity headroom.

Diok's capital structure remains highly leveraged, and S&P now
forecasts EBITDA interest coverage will approach 1x only in 2021.

S&P said, "Diok's adjusted interest coverage stood at 0.8x as of
Dec. 31, 2020, which is significantly weaker than our previous
assumptions of 1.2x-1.5x, mainly due to a limited earnings increase
stemming from delayed portfolio growth as well as higher vacancy
levels in its standing asset portfolio following the departure of
two larger tenants. We understand that the company's access to debt
capital markets remained restricted during 2020 on the back of the
COVID-19 pandemic and the company therefore postponed its growth
strategy. We expect Diok will continue expanding its cash flow base
and portfolio throughout 2021, but believe the company's limited
cash flow base in combination with high debt-servicing needs may
put further pressure on its capital structure and liquidity
headroom. We forecast that the company will approach EBITDA
interest coverage of 1x in the coming 12 months given resumed
acquisitions (about EUR80 million for 2021) and some benefits from
recent refinancing activities with more favorable funding
conditions. That said, we anticipate Diok's debt to debt plus
equity will remain high at about 80%. The company foresees an
equity buildup in the next few years, based mainly on revaluation
gains on properties purchased, in line with its strategy of buying
properties at a 10%-15% discount, while funding acquisitions solely
with debt. We believe the highly leveraged capital structure and
market uncertainties could pose some risks on the company's ability
to raise new funding, particularly during a market downturn, which
could weigh on its financial sustainability."

Diok's liquidity will continue to be pressured.

S&P said, "We estimate that the company's liquidity sources will
cover liquidity uses for the next 12 months by about 1.1x with
limited short-term debt maturities (about EUR2.5 million, mainly
debt amortization) and committed capital expenditure (capex) needs.
As of Dec. 31, 2020, the company's cash balance amounted to EUR9.2
million. That said, we note that liquidity could become constrained
further if Diok is unable to increase its cash funds from
operations (FFO) to support annual mortgage amortization and
ongoing debt maturities beyond our 12 months assessment, started
Dec. 31, 2020. Our analysis also takes into account the tight
headroom of just about 10% on the company's interest coverage
covenant for one of its bank mortgage facilities (outstanding loan
amount of EUR37 million), but we understand that the company
refinanced the loan at the beginning of 2021 with better funding
conditions, which should increase covenant headroom. We understand
that Diok has adequate headroom of more than 10% on all other
financial covenants.

"We expect Diok will restore its operational performance in 2021,
with increasing letting activity and portfolio growth.

"We understand Diok will resumes its portfolio growth plan this
year, after a quiet 2020 during which its portfolio size was almost
unchanged at EUR206 million, compared to EUR205 million in 2019.
Diok identified an acquisition pipeline of 10 assets worth
approximately EUR300 million gross asset value (GAV), two of which
we expect will be closed in the coming months. In our base case, we
assume about EUR80 million of acquisitions in 2021, with the
acquisitions contributing to the company's overall EBITDA already
this year. We continue to anticipate a limited impact from COVID-19
on Diok's operational performance, with 99% cash rent collection in
2020 thanks to its relative resilient tenant structure, mainly from
the IT and pharmaceutical industries. However, we note that
occupancy rates dropped to 83% as of Dec. 31, 2020, from 93% in
2019. We understand the stems primarily from two big tenants
leaving. The company is making progress in signing new leasing
contracts to fill the vacant space though, and we expect it will
reduce vacancy rates by about 5%-10% percentage points in the short
term. That said, this has reinforced our view of the high
volatility of Diok's business, owning to its small size und low
diversification.

"The negative outlook reflects our view that we could lower the
ratings on Diok in the next 12 months if the company's capital
structure becomes increasingly unsustainable with shrinking
liquidity headroom.

"We would lower the rating if the company fails to reach an EBITDA
interest coverage of 1x over the next 12 months. This could happen,
for example, if the company is unable to fill recent vacated
properties in a timely manner or enlarge its absolute cash flow on
the back of its growth strategy.

"We would also view negatively, if Diok is unable to raise enough
funding to cover its short-term debt maturities, including
amortization."

S&P could revise the outlook to stable if Diok executes on its
strategy to expand its portfolio and absolute cash flow base such
that

-- Its existing asset portfolio stabilizes with reduced vacancy
due to new leasing activity; and

-- EBITDA interest coverage ratio reaches 1x or more in the next
12 months; and

-- Liquidity does not deteriorate further.




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DANAOS CORP: S&P Gives 'B+' Issuer Credit Rating, Outlook Positive
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S&P Global Ratings assigned its 'B+' issuer credit rating to
Marshall Islands-registered Danaos Corp., an owner and charterer of
60 containerships, and its 'B' issue rating to its $300 million
senior unsecured notes.

The positive outlook reflects that Danaos has the capacity to
strengthen and maintain S&P Global Ratings-adjusted funds from
operations (FFO) to debt of more than 20% from 2021, if the
industry momentum persists and the company re-charters its ships at
rates consistent with its base case while continuing to reduce
financial leverage in line with the mandatory debt amortization
schedule and applying excess cash to fleet expansion or
rejuvenation in a prudent manner.

S&P said, "Our rating reflects Danaos' competitive position as one
of the largest containership owners and long operating track record
as a reputable and high-quality tonnage provider. This is
complemented by Danaos' conservative chartering policy and
predictable running costs, which typically provide medium-term
visibility on earnings and partly insulate the company from the
industry's higher-than-average underlying volatility. With an
aggregate capacity of 370,000 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) and
owned fleet of 60 ships with sizes ranging from 2,200TEU-13,100TEU,
Danaos is the seventh-largest containership owner in the world, as
measured by capacity, in a highly fragmented industry where the
top-10 players account for only about 20% of the market, according
to Clarkson Research. With a carrying capacity of 1 million TEU,
Seaspan is the world's leading tonnage provider and is double the
size of the next largest, Costamare. Although scale provides some
competitive advantage, Danaos remains exposed to volatile container
shipping charter rates (and vessel values), in particular in the
event of the counterparty's nonperformance on charter agreements or
default. We view the shipping sector as having higher-than-average
industry risk and as constraining our overall assessment of Danaos'
business risk profile. This, we believe, stems from the industry's
capital intensity, high fragmentation, frequent supply-demand
imbalances, history of meaningful industry oversupply, and limited
ability to differentiate services provided leaving industry players
to compete mainly on price. We believe Danaos' current
medium-to-long-term time-charter profile, underpinned by attractive
rates, partly shields the company from the industry's cyclical
swings. We understand that the charter profile consists of fully
noncancellable and fixed-rate contracts and, as of Dec. 31, 2020,
it had a remaining average duration of 3.1 years and about $1.1
billion of future contracted revenue." Furthermore, Danaos benefits
from good operating efficiency, and predictable and competitive
running costs, with no exposure to volatile bunker fuel prices and
other voyage expenses, which are borne by the counterparty as
stipulated in the time-charter agreements. This is reflected in the
relatively stable operating margins and returns on capital over the
past several years.

Short-to-medium-term charter rate conditions should be supportive
and underpin Danaos' cash flow generation. The movement of
essential goods, strong pickup in e-commerce, and shift in consumer
spending to tangible goods from services have supported the
shipping volume recovery and containership charter rates from June
2020. Trade momentum remained solid in the first quarter of 2021,
despite the usual seasonal slowdown. S&P said, "As a result, we now
forecast a rebound in shipped volumes consistent with global GDP
growth of about 5% in 2021 following an estimated contraction in
the low-single digits in 2020 compared with 2019. Continued
congestions in main maritime ports and disruptions in logistical
supply chains is tying up containership capacity and boosting
charter rates. Despite the most recent spike in new ship orders
(lifting the containership order book to 15% of the total global
fleet from about 9% three months ago), containership supply growth
will unlikely surpass the growth in demand in the coming quarters,
propping up charter rates. We believe that more stringent
regulation on sulfur emissions (only 0.5% sulfur emission permitted
as of January 2020), and broader considerations about greenhouse
gas emissions in general--particularly in the context of
decarbonization--will likely result in uncertainties over the costs
and benefits of various technologies and fuel, and should limit
ordering in the short term. We also note that lead time between
placing orders for ships and the ability of shipyards to deliver
currently stands at 18 months-24 months. We believe that
demand-and-supply conditions will be largely in balance in 2021 and
2022, with growth in container volumes at least matching the growth
in containership capacity. We forecast that charter rates will
gradually moderate in 2021, as the pandemic's impact on the
container shipping industry eases. We incorporate the industry
outlook into our base case and forecast that Danaos will be able to
re-charter its vessels due for re-employment in 2021 (largely
smaller 2,200TEU-4,250TEU ships) at better rates than in the
existing contracts, as it did year to date."

Danaos has a narrower business scope than its peer group including
large global transport services providers, with a business model
built solely around containerships and large exposure to few
container liners. Danaos' cash flow generation prospects are
susceptible to counterparties'/container liners' financial capacity
and willingness to deliver on their commitments. The most recent
quarterly reporting by leading container liners signified a
steeper-than-expected recovery in global trade volumes, stringent
capacity deployment that provided a boost to freight rates, and
effective measures to steadily reduce costs. In light of this,
Danaos' customers, including container operators we rate --CMA CGM
S.A., Hapag-Lloyd AG, and A.P. Moller - Maersk A/S-- have improved
their free operating cash flow (FOCF) and liquidity, and reduced
debt, resulting in stronger credit metrics in 2020. This robust
industry momentum should persist in 2021 allowing container liners
to further expand their financial flexibility. S&P said, "We
realize, however, that the container shipping industry will remain
tied to cyclical supply-and-demand conditions and vulnerable to
low-probability, high-impact events, which typically depress
utilization and charter rates. Industry downturns in recent years
have prompted high-profile financial restructurings and defaults of
the liner companies that chartered Danaos' vessels. This included
South Korean container liners Hanjin Shipping, which cancelled
long-term charters for eight of Danaos' vessels after it filed for
court receivership in September 2016, and Hyundai Merchant Marine
(HMM) with which Danaos agreed substantial charter rate reductions
on 13 ships in July 2016 in exchange for debt and equity securities
in HMM. Furthermore, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services' 2014
restructuring agreement with its creditors included a significant
reduction in the charter rates payable by ZIM under its time
charters for six of Danaos' vessels in exchange for debt and equity
securities in ZIM. As a result of the container liners'
underperformance under charter agreements, Danaos faced an EBITDA
plunge, breached financial covenants, and had to restructure is
outstanding debt, including a debt for equity swap of $550 million
completed in 2018. We understand that, since then, and after a
number of government interventions and equity injections, HMM's and
ZIM's credit quality has improved, with ZIM recently executing its
IPO. We also note that Danaos' exposure to HMM and ZIM has
diminished, with 16% and 5% of its $1.1 billion charter backlog
contracted with HMM and ZIM, respectively, as of Dec. 31, 2020."

S&P said, "We expect Danaos' credit measures to improve gradually
as the company amortizes debt from free cash flow and its financial
flexibility for potential fleet expansion and rejuvenation to
increase. Resilient EBITDA combined with gradually decreasing debt
(Danaos reduced reported debt by $65 million to $1.46 billion in
2020) and interest expenses have resulted in improved credit
metrics in 2020, with our adjusted FFO to debt improving to 16%
(from 12%-13% in 2019) and debt to EBITDA declining to 4.7x (from
5.0x in 2019). This is significantly below Danaos' historical
leverage levels of 6.5x-7.5x, at which the company operated until
2018. Taking into account the current contracted revenue backlog of
about $1.1 billion, solid EBITDA-to-free cash flow conversion, and
the new capital structure, under our base case we expect that
Danaos' cash flow generation will exceed debt service requirements
and help to expand the liquidity buffer for discretionary spending
and against potential operational underperformance or unforeseen
setbacks, while supporting improvement of adjusted FFO to debt to
24%-26% and adjusted debt to EBITDA to 3.3x-3.5x over 2021-2022.
These levels are consistent with the higher 'BB-' rating. We
consider Danaos' held-for-sale securities, including an 8.5%-equity
stake in ZIM and unsecured bonds of HMM and ZIM, as an additional
and potentially large liquidity source, which is, however,
difficult to precisely quantify until the securities are sold.

"We lack a track record of Danaos operating at a lower level of
financial leverage as forecast in our base case. We apply a
negative comparable rating analysis (CRA) modifier to our 'bb-'
anchor for Danaos, resulting in an overall rating of 'B+' because
we note that the likely improved credit ratios in 2021 up to the
thresholds consistent with our significant financial risk profile
category would be a new achievement for the company. This means
that there is no track record of Danaos' commitment to maintaining
this degree of financial risk, for example, adjusted debt to EBITDA
of 3x-4x, which weighs on the possibility of an upgrade at this
time."

Environmental, social and governance.

Danaos is well placed operationally and financially to continue
complying with more stringent environmental regulations, setting a
0.5% global sulfur cap for marine fuels (versus 3.5% previously),
which came into effect as of Jan. 1, 2020, and imposing standards
on ballast water management from September 2024. This is because
the bunker cost for Danaos is contained by the nature of its
time-charter fixed-cost contracts, whereby the charterer typically
pays the fuel bill. In addition, management aims over time to
replace aging containerships with new ones equipped with more
fuel-efficient engines. S&P does not expect this recurring capital
spending (capex) for regulatory purposes will have a rating impact,
given Danaos' current financial flexibility. Notwithstanding this,
the company takes ongoing proactive actions to enhance energy
efficiency and cut emissions, including bulbous bow optimization,
propeller retrofits, and low friction paints. It also has installed
exhaust cleaning systems (scrubbers) on nine of its vessels without
a significant impact on its financial flexibility over 2019-2020.
However, a downside risk remains in that the industry could see
increasingly stringent environmental regulation, which could
adversely affect Danaos' credit quality if not timely covered by
corresponding increases in charter rates.

Social risk in the shipping industry is generally less relevant
compared with environmental risk. That said, maintaining a
reliable, safe, and economic fleet is key to handling regulatory
risks and public opinion. Danaos boasts a good safety track record
and no history of environmental incidents (such as oil spills) and,
in our view, it has put systems in place to ensure safety
performance monitoring of its fully digitized fleet. This is why
Danaos is one of the preferred tonnage providers of global and
reputation-conscious charterers.

S&P said, "We assess Danaos' management and governance as fair,
underpinned by the reputable team of industry experts running the
company as well as its board of directors mostly comprised of
independent members. We also note the company's consistent
operating track record and high standard for operating and
technological performance.

"Our ratings are in line with the preliminary ratings we assigned
on Jan. 28, 2021.

"The positive outlook reflects a possibility that we may upgrade
Danaos in the next 12 months.

"We could raise the rating if we believed that Danaos would
strengthen and maintain adjusted FFO to debt exceeding 20%, which
is our threshold for a 'BB-' rating. This would be contingent on
the overall charter rate conditions remaining supportive, allowing
Danaos to re-employ its ships at rates consistent with, or higher
than, our base case while continuing to reduce financial leverage
in line with the mandatory debt amortization schedule. Given the
industry's inherent volatility, an upgrade would also depend on the
company's ability to achieve an ample cushion under the credit
measures for potential fluctuations in EBITDA, combined with solid
liquidity.

"Furthermore, we would need to be convinced that management's
financial policy does not allow for significant increases in
leverage. This means that the company applies excess cash for fleet
expansion or rejuvenation in a conservative and cash-flow accretive
manner and that shareholder remuneration remains prudent.

"We would revise the outlook to stable if Danaos' earnings appear
to weaken due to a significant deterioration in charter rate
conditions, resulting in adjusted FFO to debt unlikely reaching
20%.

"Downward rating pressure would also arise from any unexpected
deviations in terms of financial policy, for example, if we
believed that the company pursued significant and largely
debt-funded investments in additional tonnage or more aggressive
shareholder distributions than we currently forecast, which would
weaken the company's liquidity and credit measures. We would also
consider a downgrade if container liners' credit quality weakens
unexpectedly, increasing the risk of amendments to existing
contracts, delayed payments or nonpayment under the charter
agreements."


GREECE: S&P Raises Long-Term Sovereign Credit Rating to 'BB'
------------------------------------------------------------
On April 23, 2021, S&P Global Ratings raised its long-term
sovereign credit rating on Greece to 'BB' from 'BB-' and affirmed
its short-term rating at 'B'. The outlook is positive.

Outlook

The positive outlook signifies that S&P could raise its ratings on
Greece within the next 12-18 months if economic recovery is faster
than we currently project and stronger than peers'. Ratings upside
could also hinge on a material improvement in budgetary
performance, coupled with a marked reduction of nonperforming
exposures (NPEs) in Greece's banking system.

Downside scenario

S&P could revise the outlook to stable if the economy weakens more
than we expect, or due to large and negative deviations from its
current budgetary projections.

Upside scenario

S&P could raise its ratings on Greece if the structural reforms
continue alongside a strong economic rebound and improved budgetary
performance. In this scenario, NPEs in Greece's impaired banking
system would also shrink significantly, which would benefit
monetary transmission, in our view.

Rationale

The upgrade reflects S&P's expectation of a rapid improvement in
Greece's economic and budgetary performance as the adverse impacts
of the COVID-19 pandemic subside. The government's policies should
enable progress on budgetary consolidation and structural reforms.
These developments, together with the expected deployment of the
Next Generation EU (NGEU) funds, will result in an improved
economic performance.

In 2020, Greece's governance effectiveness and economic resilience
efforts received a boost via the monetary and fiscal policy
responses at eurozone and EU levels, respectively. The European
Central Bank's (ECB's) supportive monetary policy materially
facilitated market access for government borrowing at relatively
low costs due to the inclusion of Greek government bonds in the
ECB's Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program (PEPP) and as collateral
in the ECB's repurchase operations.

EU fiscal support in the pipeline comes in two forms. First, the
EU's multiannual financial framework is set to distribute almost
EUR40 billion (22.7% of 2019 GDP) to Greek authorities during
2021-2027. Second, the EU's Recovery and Resilience Plan targets a
disbursement of about EUR32.0 billion (18.2% of 2019 GDP), of which
EUR19.4 billion (11.0% of 2019 GDP) is in grants, with the
remaining EUR12.6 billion in loans. In S&P's view, if used
effectively, these funds will enable further structural economic
improvements in the Greek economy, particularly addressing the
large investment gap, a result of the pro-cyclical fiscal
tightening required of Greece after the global financial crisis.

The structural reforms implemented by consecutive Greek governments
over the past several years have, in S&P's view, enhanced the
predictability of policy-making. This bodes well for the country's
economic and budgetary outlook once the pandemic's impact
diminishes. Despite the COVID-19-induced dip in 2020, Greece's
creditworthiness benefits from the government's significant fiscal
buffers, thanks to:

-- Solid budgetary performance before the pandemic;

-- Preservation of substantial liquidity reserves on the
government's balance sheet; and

-- A favorable government debt structure.

S&P said, "In terms of maturity and average interest costs, Greece
has one of the most advantageous debt profiles of all the
sovereigns we rate. The commercial portion of Greece's central
government debt represented about 22% of total debt, or less than
40% of GDP at end-2020. After a spike in 2020, we project that
Greece's general government gross and net debt-to-GDP ratios will
decline, aided by a recovery in nominal GDP growth and budgetary
consolidation.

"We also acknowledge that the ratings are constrained by the
country's high external and government debt and challenged monetary
transmission, given the large NPEs in the banking sector."

Institutional and economic profile: Greece's structural reforms and
the deployment of EU funds brighten the economic outlook

-- S&P expects the economy to bounce back from the
pandemic-induced contraction, with growth of 4.9% in 2021 and
generally strong performance over 2022-2024.

-- That said, near-term downside risks from the evolution of
COVID-19 variants remain, especially for Greece's large tourism
sector.

-- S&P believes that efficient use of the large inflow of EU funds
could accelerate the structural improvement in the economy during
its forecast horizon.

Following the 8.2% GDP contraction in 2020, we expect an economic
rebound of 4.9% in 2021. The uncertainty regarding the pace of
recovery persists, given the emergence of successive waves of
infections in Greece and its main trading partners, potentially
prompting additional government restrictions. This could further
delay the recovery in the services sector (-44% in 2020), notably
in tourism. Current account travel receipts in 2019 represented
almost 10% of GDP and about 22% of the Greek economy's total
current account receipts. Given the major disruptions in
international travel last year, international arrivals at Greek
airports fell by 76.5%, with net receipts from travel and
transportation falling by 77.0% and 33.0%, respectively.
Nevertheless, S&P continues to see tourism as a sound value added
and source of employment for the Greek economy, even if the
sector's recovery is delayed.

S&P said, "Over the next three years, we expect Greece's economic
growth will surpass the eurozone average, including in real GDP per
capita terms. We expect economic performance to be fueled mainly by
domestic demand and exports this year, although we do not expect
tourism receipts will recover to 2019 levels until 2024-2025. The
government's 2020 fiscal measures, such as the reduction of
personal income tax for low-income earners, lowering of property
tax, and revised schedule for paying tax arrears, should still
support households' disposable income and recovery in domestic
demand. In the near term, we anticipate the government will
continue with targeted fiscal measures to counter the pandemic's
economic fallout, as well as shield viable businesses and employees
from a temporary-but-severe liquidity shock, until the recovery is
well underway. Without the government's sizable fiscal response,
Greece's GDP would fall considerably more, and solvent businesses
would be forced to liquidate, eroding the economy's productive
base."

The ECB's Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program (PEPP), launched at
the pandemic's onset to stabilize financial markets, will continue
to absorb the economic shocks stemming from the COVID-19 crisis,
including in Greece. Besides granting a waiver of the eligibility
requirements for securities issued by the Greek government, the ECB
has been accepting Greek government bonds as collateral in its
repurchase operations, further boosting liquidity support to the
banking system. In December 2020, it scaled up its policy response
to the disinflationary consequences of COVID-19 and increased the
envelope for a second time to EUR1.85 trillion or about 14% of the
euro area GDP. Given the increase in government borrowing needs, we
believe that the ongoing expansion of the ECB's balance sheet is
appropriately oriented toward absorbing those needs at relatively
low costs.

S&P said, "We believe that, in the coming years, the Greek economy
will benefit substantially from the available facilities under the
NGEU fund. Under the agreement, Greece is set to receive grants of
EUR19.4 billion by 2026 and is eligible for loans of up to EUR12.6
billion, without considering loans available via the SURE fund for
employment support or the European Stability Mechanism's (ESM's)
pandemic credit line. We believe that, if used efficiently, these
funds could fast-track the structural improvements in the economy
and will contribute to stronger growth during our forecast
horizon."

As a result, investment activity is set to improve in 2021,
alongside increasing net foreign direct investment (FDI). The
privatization process slowed in 2020 due to the pandemic, but the
government is accelerating it this year, facilitating planned
private-sector-led projects, such as redevelopment of the site
where Athens International Airport formerly stood. Assets to be
privatized this year include a 30% stake in Athens International
Airport, a 65% stake in DEPA Infrastructure and DEPA Commerce
(successor companies of the public gas corporation), the first
installment for the Hellinikon project (EUR300 million),
concessions on the Egnatia motorway, and regional ports.

Greece still has a less favorable business environment than peers.
This is due to impediments to competition in its product and
professional services markets, relatively weak property rights,
inefficient judiciary, and low predictability of contract
enforcement. The government is reducing undue administrative
burdens (especially to speed up investment) and anticompetitive
behavior by advancing digital transformation, particularly in the
services sector. This includes embedding digital skills training
into primary and secondary education, as well as digitalizing
public administration. Furthermore, the government adopted reforms
of vocational training and of higher education in order to improve
the labor market outcomes. S&P said, "We believe successful reforms
would likely result in productivity gains, enhance macroeconomic
outcomes, and better the sovereign's debt-servicing ability in the
medium to long term. We believe the funds available under the NGEU
agreement could act as a catalyst for such reforms."

S&P said, "In our opinion, one of the keys to a faster economic
recovery is a drop in banks' NPEs since it would spur
private-sector credit. We believe the positive impact of previous
structural reforms is unlikely to be displayed in recessionary or
low-growth conditions. Without access to working capital, small and
midsize enterprises--the economy's largest employer--remain in
varying degrees of distress. Private-sector default is still
widespread, including on tax debt. The 2020 recession has further
complicated efforts to reduce the large stock of NPEs, given the
pandemic's repercussions on corporate balance sheets. As such, we
believe the Bank of Greece's proposal on a new NPE-reduction
facility is a step in the right direction and could be deployed in
2021. At the same time, the government is planning a new
nonperforming loan-related facility, Hercules II, to accelerate the
clean-up of the banks' balance sheets." Moreover, drawing on
EUR12.6 billion worth of loans from the EU Recovery and Resilience
Facility and channeling them to the private sector at low borrowing
costs via banking system should spur economic activity in the
coming years.

Following the end of the ESM program, Greece is subject to
quarterly reviews under the European Commission's enhanced
surveillance framework. Ongoing debt relief and the return of
so-called ANFA/SMP (Agreement on Net Financial Assets/Securities
Market Programme) profits on Greek bonds held by the ECB and the
eurozone's national central banks are subject to ongoing compliance
with the program's objectives. This, combined with the available
NGEU funds, constitutes a major incentive for the government to
further structural reforms.

Flexibility and performance profile: Budgetary performance will
improve as COVID-19 fallout subsides

-- S&P now forecasts that the budget deficit will narrow to 6.9%
of GDP in 2021, from 9.7% in 2020, as some temporary
pandemic-relief measures are withdrawn.

-- S&P projects that general government debt in GDP terms will
gradually decline from this year, while the government preserves a
large cash buffer and a wide array of funding options that don't
jeopardize public finance sustainability.

-- The pandemic fallout complicates banks' NPE reduction plans,
although the central bank's framework and the government's new
facility (Hercules II) should underpin further improvements in NPE
disposals.

The pandemic interrupted Greece's recent track record of budget
surpluses solidly exceeding budgetary targets, after a large
budgetary adjustment since the 2010 economic and financial crisis.
Because of a partial withdrawal of the government's discretionary
budgetary measures and the impact of the recovery on government
revenue and spending, S&P currently estimates a budget deficit in
2021 of 6.9% of GDP, compared with a deficit of 9.7% in 2020. Given
the extraordinary circumstances of 2020 and the temporary
suspension of the EU Stability and Growth Pact fiscal framework,
the requirement for Greece to meet its 3.5% of GDP primary balance
in 2020 was suspended.

Greece's 2021 budget aims at supporting the economic recovery,
particularly the sectors most affected by the pandemic. Plans
include incentivizing employment, reducing social security
contributions for private sector employees by three percentage
points, and waiving the social solidarity tax for private-sector
employees and the self-employed to reduce the tax pressure on
labor. Moreover, a new temporary recruitment subsidy for social
security contribution (for six months) has been set up, with a goal
to create 100,000 jobs.

Considering the anticipated economic recovery and narrowing budget
deficit, we expect gross general government debt to fall to about
201% of GDP in 2021, from about 206% in 2020, before declining
further over 2022-2024. Net of cash buffers, S&P projects a
decrease in net general government debt in 2021 to about 184% of
GDP--the highest among all sovereigns we rate--from about 188% of
GDP in 2020.

Despite the significant worsening in the budget balance and
government debt in 2020, Greece entered the pandemic with
substantial fiscal buffers. This is demonstrated by its underlying
pre-pandemic structural budget position (estimated at a surplus of
about 2% of GDP in 2019), as well as its access to a substantial
liquidity reserve (estimated at about 17% of GDP end-2020), which
markedly reduces its borrowing needs. S&P said, "Moreover, we
expect the transfers of SMP/ANFA returns from the Eurosystem will
continue, despite a substantial deterioration in budgetary
performance. In addition, the ECB's decisions on eligibility of
Greek government bonds for PEPP and as collateral in repurchase
operations, are key for Greece's access to funding at affordable
rates, in our view." Eased access to funding options in the context
of the recent EU agreements on:

-- A credit line from the ESM;
-- Credit support from the European Investment Bank;
-- Reinsurance for national unemployment schemes; and
-- Most importantly, grants and loans under the NGEU represent
substantial additional resources.

S&P said, "We estimate Greece's debt-servicing costs averaged about
1.3% at year-end 2020. This is, despite the sizable debt,
significantly lower than the average refinancing costs for the
majority of sovereigns we rate in the 'BB' category. The
weighted-average residual maturity of central government debt stood
at almost 20 years at year-end 2020. We expect this will help
alleviate the government's interest burden, even considering the
material increase in government debt due to the economic and
budgetary impact of the pandemic."

Greek banks have advanced their plan to reduce NPEs, reaching
EUR58.7 billion in September 2020 from about EUR68.0 billion at the
end of 2019 (excluding off-balance-sheet items) and EUR107.2
billion in March 2016. The Greek authorities launched an
asset-protection scheme called Hercules, which entails granting
sovereign guarantees for senior tranches of proposed NPE
securitizations to reduce NPEs in the banking system. S&P said, "We
believe such measures will help repair the monetary transmission
mechanism and hasten the economic recovery. Furthermore, we believe
the proposals by the Bank of Greece and the government for two
additional NPE-reducing facilities is a step in the right
direction. Assuming ongoing transactions close as planned, we
expect the system-wide NPE ratio to drop below 20% by end-2022.
That said, we anticipate that the ongoing pandemic will likely
cause additional problem loans to emerge."

The banking system's liquidity has improved over the past few
years. Greek financial institutions retain access to the ECB's
long-term refinancing lines, while those Greek small and midsize
enterprises most exposed to the pandemic, particularly in tourism,
have access to dedicated targeted longer-term refinancing
operations (TLTRO III) lines on highly accommodative terms. This
should shield the Greek economy from intense external liquidity
pressure. Importantly, following the ECB's March 2020 decision,
banks can access regular ECB financing using Greek government bonds
as collateral. As a result, Greek banks have maximized their
funding from the ECB. The TLTRO funding for Greek banks amounted to
more than EUR41 billion as of December 2020. Apart from the
advantages of resulting cheaper funding costs, major Greek banks
reported strong pre-provisioning income thanks to profits from
trading gains related to the government bond holdings. A higher
savings rate amid the pandemic, coupled with improved depositor and
investor sentiment, supports greater customer deposits. System-wide
deposits posted a 9% growth in 2020, and S&P does not exclude a
mid-to-high single-digit growth by year-end 2022. This, coupled
with ongoing clean-up of balance sheets and the eventual use of the
EU's structural funds, is favorable for the credit supply. The
restoration of precarious earnings remains the key challenge for
Greek banks.

S&P said, "We project Greece's current account deficit will narrow
in 2021 to 4.2% of GDP from 6.7%. This will follow a pickup in
tourism and other exports receipts. Nevertheless, the increase in
imports, including due to higher oil prices, will impede a faster
improvement in current account balance. Structural economic changes
over recent years have put Greece's export sector into a position
to benefit from its increased competitiveness, which is displayed
in solid export performance of goods, in our view. For example, in
2020 exports of goods increased by 5.5% in real terms. In a broader
perspective, labor cost competitiveness has improved to the level
before 2000, and external demand has risen. Consequently, the share
of exported goods and services (excluding shipping services) has
almost doubled, compared with 19% of GDP in 2009. Once the
financial risks of COVID-19 have abated, Greece's market shares in
global trade could stretch further. Moreover, following a temporary
dip in 2020, FDI inflows are expected to increase again this year.
We believe that the large grants emanating from the NGEU agreement
will benefit balance of payments developments during 2021-2026."

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) credit factors for this
credit rating change:

-- Governance factors.

In accordance with S&P's relevant policies and procedures, the
Rating Committee was composed of analysts that are qualified to
vote in the committee, with sufficient experience to convey the
appropriate level of knowledge and understanding of the methodology
applicable. At the onset of the committee, the chair confirmed that
the information provided to the Rating Committee by the primary
analyst had been distributed in a timely manner and was sufficient
for Committee members to make an informed decision.

After the primary analyst gave opening remarks and explained the
recommendation, the Committee discussed key rating factors and
critical issues in accordance with the relevant criteria.
Qualitative and quantitative risk factors were considered and
discussed, looking at track-record and forecasts.

The committee's assessment of the key rating factors is reflected
in the Ratings Score Snapshot above.

The chair ensured every voting member was given the opportunity to
articulate his/her opinion. The chair or designee reviewed the
draft report to ensure consistency with the Committee decision. The
views and the decision of the rating committee are summarized in
the above rationale and outlook. The weighting of all rating
factors is described in the methodology used in this rating
action.

  Ratings List

  UPGRADED; SHORT-TERM RATING AFFIRMED
                                   TO              FROM
  Greece
   Sovereign Credit Rating   BB/Positive/B     BB-/Stable/B
   Senior Unsecured                BB               BB-

  RATINGS AFFIRMED

  Greece
   Transfer & Convertibility Assessment    AAA
   Commercial Paper                        B




=============
I R E L A N D
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ARBOUR CLO IX: Moody's Gives (P)B3 Rating to EUR12M Class F Notes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service announced that it has assigned the
following provisional ratings to notes to be issued by Arbour CLO
IX DAC (the "Issuer"):

EUR1,500,000 Class X Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due 2034,
Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

EUR246,000,000 Class A Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2034, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

EUR22,000,000 Class B-1 Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2034, Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

EUR20,000,000 Class B-2 Senior Secured Fixed Rate Notes due 2034,
Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

EUR28,000,000 Class C Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)A3 (sf)

EUR25,000,000 Class D Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)Baa3 (sf)

EUR21,000,000 Class E Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)Ba3 (sf)

EUR12,000,000 Class F Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)B3 (sf)

RATINGS RATIONALE

The rationale for the rating is based on a consideration of the
risks associated with the CLO's portfolio and structure as
described in Moody's methodology.

The Issuer is a managed cash flow CLO. At least 90% of the
portfolio must consist of senior secured obligations and up to 10%
of the portfolio may consist of senior unsecured obligations,
second-lien loans, mezzanine obligations and high yield bonds. The
portfolio is expected to be 80% ramped up as of the closing date
and to comprise of predominantly corporate loans to obligors
domiciled in Western Europe. The remainder of the portfolio will be
acquired during the five month ramp-up period in compliance with
the portfolio guidelines.

Oaktree Capital Management (Europe) LLP ("Oaktree") will manage the
CLO. It will direct the selection, acquisition and disposition of
collateral on behalf of the Issuer and may engage in trading
activity, including discretionary trading, during the transaction's
four and half year reinvestment period. Thereafter, subject to
certain restrictions, purchases are permitted using principal
proceeds from unscheduled principal payments and proceeds from
sales of credit risk obligations or credit improved obligations.

Interest and principal amortisation amounts due to the Class X
Notes are paid pro rata with payments to the Class A notes. The
Class X Notes amortise by EUR250,000 over the six payment dates,
starting on the second payment date.

In addition to the eight classes of notes rated by Moody's, the
Issuer will issue EUR250,000 Class M Notes due 2034 and
EUR30,200,000 Subordinated Notes due 2034 which are not rated. The
Class M Notes accrue interest in an amount equivalent to a certain
proportion of the senior and subordinated management fees and its
notes' payment is pari passu with the payment of the senior and
subordinated management fees.

The transaction incorporates interest and par coverage tests which,
if triggered, divert interest and principal proceeds to pay down
the notes in order of seniority.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on economic
activity. Although global economies have shown a remarkable degree
of resilience to date and are returning to growth, the uneven
effects on individual businesses, sectors and regions will continue
throughout 2021 and will endure as a challenge to the world's
economies well beyond the end of the year. While persistent virus
fears remain the main risk for a recovery in demand, the economy
will recover faster if vaccines and further fiscal and monetary
policy responses bring forward a normalization of activity. As a
result, there is a heightened degree of uncertainty around Moody's
forecasts. Moody's analysis has considered the effect on the
performance of European corporate assets from a gradual and
unbalanced recovery in European economic activity.

Moody's regard the coronavirus outbreak as a social risk under its
ESG framework, given the substantial implications for public health
and safety.

Methodology underlying the rating action:

The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's Global
Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan Obligations" published in
December 2020.

Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the ratings:

The rated notes' performance is subject to uncertainty. The notes'
performance is sensitive to the performance of the underlying
portfolio, which in turn depends on economic and credit conditions
that may change. The collateral manager's investment decisions and
management of the transaction will also affect the notes'
performance.

Moody's modeled the transaction using a cash flow model based on
the Binomial Expansion Technique, as described in Section 2.3 of
the "Moody's Global Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan
Obligations" rating methodology published in December 2020.

Moody's used the following base-case modeling assumptions:

Par Amount: EUR400,000,000

Diversity Score: 50

Weighted Average Rating Factor (WARF): 3000

Weighted Average Spread (WAS): 3.60%

Weighted Average Coupon (WAC): 4.5%

Weighted Average Recovery Rate (WARR): 43.5%

Weighted Average Life (WAL): 8.5 years

AVOCA CLO XXIII: Fitch Assigns B-(EXP) Rating to Class F Tranche
----------------------------------------------------------------
Fitch Ratings has assigned Avoca CLO XXIII DAC expected ratings.

DEBT                    RATING
----                    ------
Avoca CLO XXIII DAC

A Loan     LT  AAA(EXP)sf   Expected Rating
A Notes    LT  AAA(EXP)sf   Expected Rating
B-1        LT  AA(EXP)sf    Expected Rating
B-2        LT  AA(EXP)sf    Expected Rating
C          LT  A(EXP)sf     Expected Rating
D          LT  BBB-(EXP)sf  Expected Rating
E          LT  BB-(EXP)sf   Expected Rating
F          LT  B-(EXP)sf    Expected Rating
Sub notes  LT  NR(EXP)sf    Expected Rating
X          LT  AAA(EXP)sf   Expected Rating

TRANSACTION SUMMARY

Avoca CLO XXIII DAC is a securitisation of mainly senior secured
obligations with a component of senior unsecured, mezzanine and
second-lien loans. A total note issuance of EUR407 million will be
used to fund a portfolio with a target par of EUR400 million. The
portfolio is managed by KKR Credit Advisors (Ireland). The CLO has
a 4.2 year reinvestment period and an 8.5-year weighted average
life.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Average Portfolio Credit Quality (Positive): Fitch places the
average credit quality of obligors in the 'B' category. The Fitch
weighted average rating factor of the identified portfolio is
32.9.

High Recovery Expectations (Positive): At least 90% of the
portfolio will comprise senior secured obligations. Fitch views the
recovery prospects for these assets as more favourable than for
second lien, unsecured and mezzanine assets. The Fitch weighted
average recovery rate of the identified portfolio is 63.3%.

Diversified Asset Portfolio (Neutral): The indicative maximum
exposure of the 10 largest obligors for assigning the expected
ratings is 20% of the portfolio balance. The transaction also
includes various concentration limits, including the maximum
exposure to the three largest (Fitch-defined) industries in the
portfolio at 40%. These covenants ensure the asset portfolio will
not be exposed to excessive concentration.

Portfolio Management (Neutral): The transaction has a 4.2-year
reinvestment period and includes reinvestment criteria similar to
those of other European transactions. Fitch's analysis is based on
a stressed-case portfolio with the aim of testing the robustness of
the transaction structure against its covenants and portfolio
guidelines.

Deviation from Model-Implied Rating (Negative): The ratings on all
tranches except the class X notes are one notch higher than the
model-implied rating (MIR) under the stress portfolio analysis.
When analysing the covenants proposed by the manager with the
stressed portfolio, the notes showed a maximum default rate
shortfall ranging from -1.14% to -3.63% across the structure at the
assigned ratings. The ratings are supported by the significant
default cushion on the identified portfolio at the assigned ratings
due to the notable cushion between the covenants of the transaction
and the portfolio's parameters including the higher diversity of
the identified portfolio.

All notes pass the assigned ratings based on the identified
portfolio and the coronavirus baseline sensitivity analysis that is
used for surveillance. The class F notes' deviation from the MIR
reflects the agency's view that the tranche displays a significant
margin of safety given the credit enhancement level at closing. The
notes do not present a "real possibility of default", which is the
definition of 'CCC' in Fitch's Rating Definitions.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive
rating action/upgrade:

-- A reduction of the default rate (RDR) at all rating levels by
    25% of the mean RDR and an increase in the recovery rate (RRR)
    by 25% at all rating levels would result in an upgrade of up
    to five notches depending on the notes, except for the class A
    and X notes, which are already at the highest possible rating.

-- At closing, Fitch will use a standardised stressed portfolio
    (Fitch's stressed portfolio) that is customised to the
    portfolio limits as specified in the transaction documents.
    Even if the actual portfolio shows lower defaults and smaller
    losses at all rating levels than Fitch's stressed portfolio
    assumed at closing, an upgrade of the notes during the
    reinvestment period is unlikely, as the portfolio credit
    quality may still deteriorate, not only by natural credit
    migration, but also through reinvestments.

-- After the end of the reinvestment period, upgrades may occur
    on better-than-expected portfolio credit quality and deal
    performance, leading to higher credit enhancement and excess
    spread available to cover for losses in the remaining
    portfolio.

Factor that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative
rating action/downgrade:

-- An increase of the RDR at all rating levels by 25% of the mean
    RDR and a decrease of the RRR by 25% at all rating levels will
    result in downgrades of no more than five notches depending on
    the class of notes.

Coronavirus Baseline Stress Scenario

Fitch has recently updated its CLO coronavirus stress scenario to
assume 50% of the corporate exposure on Negative Outlook is
downgraded by one notch instead of 100%. The Stable Outlooks on all
the notes reflect the resilience of the tranches in the sensitivity
analysis Fitch ran in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Coronavirus Severe Downside Stress Scenario

Fitch has added a sensitivity analysis that contemplates a more
severe and prolonged economic stress caused by a re-emergence of
infections in the major economies. The severe downside stress
incorporates a single-notch downgrade to all the corporate exposure
on Negative Outlook. This scenario shows resilience at the current
ratings for all notes.

BEST/WORST CASE RATING SCENARIO

International scale credit ratings of Structured Finance
transactions have a best-case rating upgrade scenario (defined as
the 99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in a positive
direction) of seven notches over a three-year rating horizon; and a
worst-case rating downgrade scenario (defined as the 99th
percentile of rating transitions, measured in a negative direction)
of seven notches over three years. The complete span of best- and
worst-case scenario credit ratings for all rating categories ranges
from 'AAAsf' to 'Dsf'. Best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings
are based on historical performance.

USE OF THIRD PARTY DUE DILIGENCE PURSUANT TO SEC RULE 17G -10

Form ABS Due Diligence-15E was not provided to, or reviewed by,
Fitch in relation to this rating action.

DATA ADEQUACY

Avoca CLO XXIII DAC

The majority of the underlying assets or risk presenting entities
have ratings or credit opinions from Fitch and/or other Nationally
Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations and/or European
Securities and Markets Authority registered rating agencies. Fitch
has relied on the practices of the relevant groups within Fitch
and/or other rating agencies to assess the asset portfolio
information or information on the risk presenting entities.

Form ABS Due Diligence-15E was not provided to, or reviewed by,
Fitch in relation to this rating action

Overall, and together with any assumptions referred to above,
Fitch's assessment of the information relied upon for the agency's
rating analysis according to its applicable rating methodologies
indicates that it is adequately reliable.

CARLYLE EURO 2021-1: Moody's Gives (P)B3 Rating to EUR10M E Notes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service announced that it has assigned the
following provisional ratings to notes to be issued by Carlyle Euro
CLO 2021-1 DAC (the "Issuer"):

EUR244,000,000 Class A-1 Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2034, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

EUR37,000,000 Class A-2A Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2034, Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

EUR5,000,000 Class A-2B Senior Secured Fixed Rate Notes due 2034,
Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

EUR28,000,000 Class B Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)A2 (sf)

EUR25,200,000 Class C Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)Baa3 (sf)

EUR22,800,000 Class D Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)Ba3 (sf)

EUR10,000,000 Class E Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)B3 (sf)

RATINGS RATIONALE

The rationale for the rating is based on a consideration of the
risks associated with the CLO's portfolio and structure as
described in Moody's methodology.

The Issuer is a managed cash flow CLO. At least 90% of the
portfolio must consist of senior secured obligations and up to 10%
of the portfolio may consist of senior unsecured obligations,
second-lien loans, mezzanine obligations and high yield bonds. The
portfolio is expected to be 62% ramped as of the pricing date and
is expected to be fully ramped as of the closing date comprising of
predominantly corporate loans to obligors domiciled in Western
Europe. In case the transaction is less than 100% ramped-up until
closing date, the remainder of the portfolio can be acquired during
the six months ramp-up period in compliance with the portfolio
guidelines.

CELF Advisors LLP ("CELF Advisors") will manage the CLO. It will
direct the selection, acquisition and disposition of collateral on
behalf of the Issuer and may engage in trading activity, including
discretionary trading, during the transaction's approximately
4.5-year reinvestment period. Thereafter, subject to certain
restrictions, purchases are permitted using principal proceeds from
unscheduled principal payments and proceeds from sales of credit
risk obligations or credit improved obligations.

In addition to the seven classes of notes rated by Moody's, the
Issuer will issue EUR38,600,000 of Subordinated Notes which are not
rated.

The transaction incorporates interest and par coverage tests which,
if triggered, divert interest and principal proceeds to pay down
the notes in order of seniority.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on economic
activity. Although global economies have shown a remarkable degree
of resilience to date and are returning to growth, the uneven
effects on individual businesses, sectors and regions will continue
throughout 2021 and will endure as a challenge to the world's
economies well beyond the end of the year. While persistent virus
fears remain the main risk for a recovery in demand, the economy
will recover faster if vaccines and further fiscal and monetary
policy responses bring forward a normalization of activity. As a
result, there is a heightened degree of uncertainty around Moody's
forecasts. Moody's analysis has considered the effect on the
performance of European corporate assets from a gradual and
unbalanced recovery in European economic activity.

Moody's regard the coronavirus outbreak as a social risk under its
ESG framework, given the substantial implications for public health
and safety

Methodology underlying the rating action:

The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's Global
Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan Obligations" published in
December 2020.

Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the ratings:

The rated notes' performance is subject to uncertainty. The notes'
performance is sensitive to the performance of the underlying
portfolio, which in turn depends on economic and credit conditions
that may change. The collateral manager's investment decisions and
management of the transaction will also affect the notes'
performance.

Moody's modeled the transaction using a cash flow model based on
the Binomial Expansion Technique, as described in Section 2.3 of
the "Moody's Global Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan
Obligations" rating methodology published in December 2020.

Moody's used the following base-case modeling assumptions:

Par Amount: EUR400,000,000

Diversity Score: 46

Weighted Average Rating Factor (WARF): 3000

Weighted Average Spread (WAS): 3.80%

Weighted Average Coupon (WAC): 4.00%

Weighted Average Recovery Rate (WARR): 43.0%

Weighted Average Life (WAL): 8.5 years

DRYDEN 88: Moody's Assigns (P)B2 Rating to EUR9.8M Class F Notes
----------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service announced that it has assigned the
following provisional ratings to debt to be issued by Dryden 88
Euro CLO 2020 DAC (the "Issuer"):

EUR117,600,000 Class A Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2034, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

EUR120,000,000 Class A Senior Secured Floating Rate Loan due 2034,
Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

EUR18,400,000 Class B-1 Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2034, Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

EUR25,000,000 Class B-2 Senior Secured Fixed Rate Notes due 2034,
Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

EUR10,200,000 Class C-1 Mezzanine Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)A2 (sf)

EUR18,400,000 Class C-2 Mezzanine Secured Deferrable Fixed Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)A2 (sf)

EUR29,400,000 Class D Mezzanine Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)Baa3 (sf)

EUR21,000,000 Class E Mezzanine Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)Ba3 (sf)

EUR9,800,000 Class F Mezzanine Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)B2 (sf)

RATINGS RATIONALE

The rationale for the ratings is based on a consideration of the
risks associated with the CLO's portfolio and structure as
described in Moody's methodology.

The Issuer is a managed cash flow CLO. At least 92.5% of the
portfolio must consist of senior secured obligations and up to 7.5%
of the portfolio may consist of senior unsecured obligations,
second-lien loans, mezzanine obligations and high yield bonds. The
portfolio is expected to be 100% ramped as of the closing date and
to comprise of predominantly corporate loans to obligors domiciled
in Western Europe. In the event the pool is not fully ramped up at
closing there will be a short ramp up period, during which
additional assets can be acquired in compliance with the portfolio
guidelines.

PGIM Loan Originator Manager Limited ("PGIM") will manage the CLO.
It will direct the selection, acquisition and disposition of
collateral on behalf of the Issuer and may engage in trading
activity, including discretionary trading, during the transaction's
4.6-year reinvestment period. Thereafter, subject to certain
restrictions, purchases are permitted using: (i) principal proceeds
from unscheduled principal payments and proceeds from sales of
credit risk obligations or credit improved obligations; and (ii)
any scheduled principal proceeds or discretionary sale proceeds up
to the first payment date following the end of the reinvestment
period.

In addition to the nine classes of notes rated by Moody's, the
Issuer will issue EUR38,950,000 Subordinated Notes due 2034, which
are not rated.

The transaction incorporates interest and par coverage tests which,
if triggered, divert interest and principal proceeds to pay down
the notes in order of seniority.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on economic
activity. Although global economies have shown a remarkable degree
of resilience to date and are returning to growth, the uneven
effects on individual businesses, sectors and regions will continue
throughout 2021 and will endure as a challenge to the world's
economies well beyond the end of the year. While persistent virus
fears remain the main risk for a recovery in demand, the economy
will recover faster if vaccines and further fiscal and monetary
policy responses bring forward a normalization of activity. As a
result, there is a heightened degree of uncertainty around Moody's
forecasts. Moody's analysis has considered the effect on the
performance of European corporate assets from a gradual and
unbalanced recovery in European economic activity.

Moody's regards the coronavirus outbreak as a social risk under its
ESG framework, given the substantial implications for public health
and safety.

Methodology underlying the rating action:

The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's Global
Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan Obligations" published in
December 2020.

Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the ratings:

The rated notes' performance is subject to uncertainty. The notes'
performance is sensitive to the performance of the underlying
portfolio, which in turn depends on economic and credit conditions
that may change. The collateral manager's investment decisions and
management of the transaction will also affect the notes'
performance.

Moody's modeled the transaction using a cash flow model based on
the Binomial Expansion Technique, as described in Section 2.3 of
the "Moody's Global Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan
Obligations" rating methodology published in December 2020.

Moody's used the following base-case modeling assumptions:

Par Amount: EUR400,000,000

Diversity Score: 45

Weighted Average Rating Factor (WARF): 3000

Weighted Average Spread (WAS): 3.90%

Weighted Average Coupon (WAC): 4.00%

Weighted Average Recovery Rate (WARR): 41.5%

Weighted Average Life (WAL): 8.5 years

JOE WALSH: Halts Trading After Pandemic Hits Operations
-------------------------------------------------------
Geoff Percival at Irish Examiner reports that more travel agents
could follow Joe Walsh Tours out of business if the Government does
not continue Covid supports into next year, the Irish Travel Agents
Association (ITAA) has warned.

Joe Walsh Tours, which traded as Joe Walsh Pilgrimtours and
Concorde Travel, announced a total cessation of trading after 60
years in operation, Irish Examiner relates.

According to Irish Examiner, the company held a bond with the
Commission for Aviation Regulation, which will cover refunds to
customers.

While it is understood the majority of refunds were paid out last
year, when customer trips were cancelled due to the pandemic, there
remains hundreds of people due payment, Irish Examiner notes.

The company was hoping to receive a sizeable payout for business
interruption insurance due to Covid, Irish Examiner relays.  If
that transpires, that money will also go towards refunding
customers if needed, Irish Examiner states.

As well as mainstream holidays, Joe Walsh Tours was a leading
operator of religious pilgrim trips to places like Lourdes and
Medjugorje.  It was also a big seller of custom sports packages,
with Leinster rugby trips a speciality.


PROVIDUS CLO IV: Moody's Gives (P)B3 Rating to EUR11.6M F-R Notes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service announced that it has assigned the
following provisional ratings to refinancing debt to be issued by
Providus CLO IV Designated Activity Company (the "Issuer"):

EUR98,000,000 Class A-R Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2034, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

EUR144,000,000 Class A Senior Secured Floating Rate Loan due 2034,
Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

EUR30,000,000 Class B-1-R Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2034, Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

EUR15,000,000 Class B-2-R Senior Secured Fixed Rate Notes due
2034, Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

EUR24,000,000 Class C-R Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)A2 (sf)

EUR30,000,000 Class D-R Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)Baa3 (sf)

EUR20,200,000 Class E-R Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)Ba3 (sf)

EUR11,600,000 Class F-R Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)B3 (sf)

RATINGS RATIONALE

The rationale for the ratings are based on a consideration of the
risks associated with the CLO's portfolio and structure as
described in Moody's methodology.

As part of this reset, the Issuer will increase the target par
amount by EUR200 million to EUR400 million. In addition, the Issuer
will add base matrix and modifiers that Moody's will take into
account for the assignment of the definitive ratings.

The Issuer is a managed cash flow CLO. At least 90% of the
portfolio must consist of senior secured obligations and up to 10%
of the portfolio may consist of senior unsecured obligations,
second-lien loans, mezzanine obligations and high yield bonds. The
portfolio is expected to be 80% ramped as of the closing date and
to comprise of predominantly corporate loans to obligors domiciled
in Western Europe. The remainder of the portfolio will be acquired
during the c.a. 5 month ramp-up period in compliance with the
portfolio guidelines.

Permira European CLO Manager LLP ("Permira") will continue managing
the CLO. It will direct the selection, acquisition and disposition
of collateral on behalf of the Issuer and may engage in trading
activity, including discretionary trading, during the transaction's
four and a half year reinvestment period. Thereafter, subject to
certain restrictions, purchases are permitted using principal
proceeds from unscheduled principal payments and proceeds from
sales of credit risk obligations or credit improved obligations.

The transaction incorporates interest and par coverage tests which,
if triggered, divert interest and principal proceeds to pay down
the Notes in order of seniority.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on economic
activity. Although global economies have shown a remarkable degree
of resilience to date and are returning to growth, the uneven
effects on individual businesses, sectors and regions will continue
throughout 2021 and will endure as a challenge to the world's
economies well beyond the end of the year. While persistent virus
fears remain the main risk for a recovery in demand, the economy
will recover faster if vaccines and further fiscal and monetary
policy responses bring forward a normalization of activity. As a
result, there is a heightened degree of uncertainty around Moody's
forecasts. Moody's analysis has considered the effect on the
performance of European corporate assets from a gradual and
unbalanced recovery in European economic activity.

Moody's regard the coronavirus outbreak as a social risk under its
ESG framework, given the substantial implications for public health
and safety.

Methodology underlying the rating action:

The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's Global
Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan Obligations" published in
December 2020.

Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the ratings:

The rated Notes' performance is subject to uncertainty. The Notes'
performance is sensitive to the performance of the underlying
portfolio, which in turn depends on economic and credit conditions
that may change. The collateral manager's investment decisions and
management of the transaction will also affect the Notes'
performance.

Moody's modeled the transaction using a cash flow model based on
the Binomial Expansion Technique, as described in Section 2.3 of
the "Moody's Global Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan
Obligations" rating methodology published in December 2020.

Moody's used the following base-case modeling assumptions:

Par Amount: EUR400,000,000

Diversity Score: 44*

Weighted Average Rating Factor (WARF): 3000

Weighted Average Spread (WAS): 3.55%

Weighted Average Coupon (WAC): 4.50%

Weighted Average Recovery Rate (WARR): 43.50%

Weighted Average Life (WAL): 8.5 years

ROCKFORD TOWER 2021-1: Moody's Rates EUR12MM Class F Notes 'B3'
---------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service announced that it has assigned the
following definitive ratings to notes issued by Rockford Tower
Europe CLO 2021-1 DAC (the "Issuer"):

EUR248,000,000 Class A Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2034, Definitive Rating Assigned Aaa (sf)

EUR20,000,000 Class B-1 Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2034, Definitive Rating Assigned Aa2 (sf)

EUR15,000,000 Class B-2 Senior Secured Fixed Rate Notes due 2034,
Definitive Rating Assigned Aa2 (sf)

EUR30,000,000 Class C Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Definitive Rating Assigned A2 (sf)

EUR28,000,000 Class D Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Definitive Rating Assigned Baa3 (sf)

EUR20,000,000 Class E Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Definitive Rating Assigned Ba3 (sf)

EUR12,000,000 Class F Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Definitive Rating Assigned B3 (sf)

RATINGS RATIONALE

The rationale for the ratings is based on a consideration of the
risks associated with the CLO's portfolio and structure as
described in Moody's methodology.

The Issuer is a managed cash flow CLO. At least 92.5% of the
portfolio must consist of senior secured obligations and up to 7.5%
in aggregate of the portfolio may consist of senior unsecured
obligations, second-lien loans, mezzanine obligations and high
yield bonds. The portfolio is expected to be fully ramped as of the
closing date and to predominantly comprise of corporate loans to
obligors domiciled in Western Europe.

Rockford Tower Capital Management, L.L.C. ("RTCM") will manage the
CLO. It will direct the selection, acquisition and disposition of
collateral on behalf of the Issuer and may engage in trading
activity, including discretionary trading, during the transaction's
4.25-year reinvestment period. Thereafter, subject to certain
restrictions, purchases are permitted using principal proceeds from
unscheduled principal payments and proceeds from sales of credit
risk obligations or credit improved obligations.

The transaction incorporates interest and par coverage tests which,
if triggered, divert interest and principal proceeds to pay down
the notes in order of seniority.

In addition to the seven classes of notes rated by Moody's, the
Issuer has issued EUR34,475,000 Subordinated Notes due 2034 which
are not rated.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on economic
activity. Although global economies have shown a remarkable degree
of resilience to date and are returning to growth, the uneven
effects on individual businesses, sectors and regions will continue
throughout 2021 and will endure as a challenge to the world's
economies well beyond the end of the year. While persistent virus
fears remain the main risk for a recovery in demand, the economy
will recover faster if vaccines and further fiscal and monetary
policy responses bring forward a normalization of activity. As a
result, there is a heightened degree of uncertainty around Moody's
forecasts. Moody's analysis has considered the effect on the
performance of European corporate assets from a gradual and
unbalanced recovery in European economic activity.

Moody's regard the coronavirus outbreak as a social risk under its
ESG framework, given the substantial implications for public health
and safety.

Methodology Underlying the Rating Action:

The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's Global
Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan Obligations" published in
December 2020.

Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the ratings:

The rated notes' performance is subject to uncertainty. The notes'
performance is sensitive to the performance of the underlying
portfolio, which in turn depends on economic and credit conditions
that may change. The collateral manager's investment decisions and
management of the transaction will also affect the notes'
performance.

Moody's modeled the transaction using a cash flow model based on
the Binomial Expansion Technique, as described in Section 2.3 of
the "Moody's Global Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan
Obligations" rating methodology published in December 2020.

Moody's used the following base-case modeling assumptions:

Par Amount: EUR400,000,000

Diversity Score: 44

Weighted Average Rating Factor (WARF): 3064

Weighted Average Spread (WAS): 3.70%

Weighted Average Coupon (WAC): 3.70%

Weighted Average Recovery Rate (WARR): 43.50%

Weighted Average Life (WAL): 8.5 years

ROCKFORD TOWER 2021-1: S&P Assigns B- (sf) Rating on Class F Notes
------------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings assigned credit ratings to Rockford Tower Europe
CLO 2021-1 DAC's class A, B-1, B-2, C, D, E, and F notes. The
issuer has also issued subordinated notes.

The ratings reflect S&P's assessment of:

-- The diversified collateral pool, which consists primarily of
broadly syndicated speculative-grade senior-secured term loans and
bonds that are governed by collateral quality tests.

-- The credit enhancement provided through the subordination of
cash flows, excess spread, and overcollateralization.

-- The collateral manager's experienced team, which can affect the
performance of the rated notes through collateral selection,
ongoing portfolio management, and trading.

-- The transaction's legal structure, which S&P considers to be
bankruptcy remote.

-- The transaction's counterparty risks, which S&P considers in
line with its counterparty rating framework.

  Portfolio Benchmarks
                                                  CURRENT
  S&P weighted-average rating factor              2791.51
  Default rate dispersion                          628.37
  Weighted-average life (years)                      5.43
  Obligor diversity measure                         95.44
  Industry diversity measure                        22.30
  Regional diversity measure                         1.21

  Transaction Key Metrics
                                                  CURRENT
  Portfolio weighted-average rating
    derived from S&P's CDO evaluator                    B
  'CCC' category rated assets (%)                    5.50
  Covenanted 'AAA' weighted-average recovery (%)    36.44
  Covenanted weighted-average spread (%)             3.70
  Covenanted weighted-average coupon (%)             3.70

Loss mitigation obligations

Under the transaction documents, the issuer can purchase loss
mitigation obligations, which are assets of an existing collateral
obligation held by the issuer offered in connection with
bankruptcy, workout, or restructuring of such obligation, to
improve the recovery value of such related collateral obligation.

Loss mitigation obligations allow the issuer to participate in
potential new financing initiatives by the borrower in default.
This feature aims to mitigate the risk of other market participants
taking advantage of CLO restrictions, which typically do not allow
the CLO to participate in a defaulted entity's new financing
request. Hence, this feature increases the chance of a higher
recovery for the CLO. While the objective is positive, it can also
lead to par erosion, as additional funds will be placed with an
entity that is under distress or in default. This may cause greater
volatility in our ratings if the positive effect of such
obligations does not materialize. In S&P's view, the presence of a
bucket for loss mitigation obligations, the restrictions on the use
of interest and principal proceeds to purchase such assets, and the
limitations in reclassifying proceeds received from such assets
from principal to interest help to mitigate the risk.

The purchase of loss mitigation obligations is not subject to the
reinvestment criteria or the eligibility criteria. The issuer may
purchase loss mitigation obligations using interest proceeds,
principal proceeds, or amounts in the collateral enhancement
account. The use of interest proceeds to purchase loss mitigation
obligations is subject to:

-- The manager determining that there are sufficient interest
proceeds to pay interest on all the rated notes on the upcoming
payment date; and

-- Following the purchase of such loss mitigation obligation, all
coverage tests shall be satisfied.

The use of principal proceeds is subject to:

-- Passing par coverage tests;

-- The manager having built sufficient excess par in the
transaction so that the aggregate collateral balance is equal to or
exceeds the portfolio's reinvestment target par balance after the
reinvestment; and

-- The obligation purchased has a par value greater than or equal
to its purchase price.

Loss mitigation obligations that have limited deviation from the
eligibility criteria will receive collateral value credit for
overcollateralization carrying value purposes. Loss mitigation
obligations that do not meet this version of the eligibility
criteria will receive zero credit. To protect the transaction from
par erosion, any distributions received from loss mitigation
obligations either purchased with the use of principal proceeds or
given overcollateralization carrying value credit will form part of
the issuer's principal account proceeds and cannot be
recharacterized as interest. Any other amounts can form part of the
issuer's interest account proceeds. The manager may, at their sole
discretion, elect to classify amounts received from any loss
mitigation obligations as principal proceeds.

The cumulative exposure to loss mitigation obligations purchased
with principal is limited to 5% of the target par amount. The
cumulative exposure to loss mitigation obligations purchased with
principal and interest is limited to 10% of the target par amount.

Rating rationale

Under the transaction documents, the rated notes will pay quarterly
interest unless a frequency switch event occurs. Following this,
the notes will switch to semiannual payments. The portfolio's
reinvestment period will end approximately 4.2 years after
closing.

S&P said, "We consider the portfolio to be well-diversified,
primarily comprising broadly syndicated speculative-grade
senior-secured term loans and senior-secured bonds. Therefore, we
have conducted our credit and cash flow analysis by applying our
criteria for corporate cash flow CDOs.

"In our cash flow analysis, we used the EUR400 million target par
amount, the covenanted weighted-average spread (3.70%), the
reference weighted-average coupon (3.70%), and the target minimum
weighted-average recovery rates as indicated by the collateral
manager. We applied various cash flow stress scenarios, using four
different default patterns, in conjunction with different interest
rate stress scenarios for each liability rating category.

"Under our structured finance sovereign risk criteria, we consider
that the transaction's exposure to country risk is sufficiently
mitigated at the assigned ratings."

Until the end of the reinvestment period on July 20, 2025, the
collateral manager may substitute assets in the portfolio for so
long as our CDO Monitor test is maintained or improved in relation
to the initial ratings on the notes. This test looks at the total
amount of losses that the transaction can sustain as established by
the initial cash flows for each rating, and it compares that with
the current portfolio's default potential plus par losses to date.
As a result, until the end of the reinvestment period, the
collateral manager may through trading deteriorate the
transaction's current risk profile, as long as the initial ratings
are maintained.

S&P said, "We consider the transaction's documented counterparty
replacement and remedy mechanisms adequately mitigate its exposure
to counterparty risk under our current counterparty criteria.

"We consider the transaction's legal structure and framework to be
bankruptcy remote, in line with our legal criteria.

"Following our analysis of the credit, cash flow, counterparty,
operational, and legal risks, we believe our ratings are
commensurate with the available credit enhancement for the class A
to E notes. Our credit and cash flow analysis indicates that the
available credit enhancement for the class B-1, B-2, C, D and E
notes could withstand stresses commensurate with higher rating
levels than those we have assigned. However, as the CLO will be in
its reinvestment phase starting from closing, during which the
transaction's credit risk profile could deteriorate, we have capped
our ratings assigned to the notes.

"For the class F notes, our credit and cash flow analysis indicates
that the available credit enhancement could withstand stresses that
are commensurate with a 'CCC+' rating. However, we have applied our
'CCC' rating criteria resulting in a 'B-' rating to this class of
notes."

The one notch of ratings uplift (to 'B-') from the model generated
results (of 'CCC+'), reflects several key factors, including:

-- Credit enhancement comparison: S&P noted that the available
credit enhancement for this class of notes is in the same range as
other CLOs that we rate, and that have recently been issued in
Europe.

-- Portfolio characteristics: The portfolio's average credit
quality is similar to other recent CLOs.

-- S&P's model generated break even default rate at the 'B-'
rating level of 28.11% (for a portfolio with a weighted-average
life of 5.43 years), versus if we were to consider a long-term
sustainable default rate of 3.1% for 5.43 years, which would result
in a target default rate of 16.83%.

-- S&P also noted that the actual portfolio is generating higher
spreads and recoveries versus the covenanted thresholds that it has
modeled in its cash flow analysis.

S&P said, "For us to assign a rating in the 'CCC' category, we also
assessed (i) whether the tranche is vulnerable to nonpayments in
the near future, (ii) if there is a one-in-two chance for this note
to default, and (iii) if we envision this tranche to default in the
next 12-18 months.

"Following this analysis, we consider that the available credit
enhancement for the class F notes is commensurate with the 'B-
(sf)' rating assigned.

"Taking the above factors into account and following our analysis
of the credit, cash flow, counterparty, operational, and legal
risks, we believe that our ratings are commensurate with the
available credit enhancement for all the rated classes of notes.

"In addition to our standard analysis, to provide an indication of
how rising pressures among speculative-grade corporates could
affect our ratings on European CLO transactions, we have also
included the sensitivity of the ratings on the class A to E notes
to five of the 10 hypothetical scenarios we looked at in our
publication "How Credit Distress Due To COVID-19 Could Affect
European CLO Ratings," published on April 2, 2020.

"As our ratings analysis makes additional considerations before
assigning ratings in the 'CCC' category, and we would assign a 'B-'
rating if the criteria for assigning a 'CCC' category rating are
not met, we have not included the above scenario analysis results
for the class F notes."

-- Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) credit factors

S&P regards the exposure to ESG credit factors in the transaction
as being broadly in line with our benchmark for the sector.
Primarily due to the diversity of the assets within CLOs, the
exposure to environmental credit factors is viewed as below
average, social credit factors are below average, and governance
credit factors are average. For this transaction, the documents
prohibit assets for which the obligor's primary business activity
is related to the following industries: oil and gas, controversial
weapons, ozone depleting substances, endangered or protected
wildlife, pornography or prostitution, tobacco or tobacco products,
and payday lending. Accordingly, since the exclusion of assets from
these industries does not result in material differences between
the transaction and our ESG benchmark for the sector, no specific
adjustments have been made in S&P's rating analysis to account for
any ESG-related risks or opportunities.

S&P Global Ratings believes there remains high, albeit moderating,
uncertainty about the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic and its
economic effects. Vaccine production is ramping up and rollouts are
gathering pace around the world. Widespread immunization, which
will help pave the way for a return to more normal levels of social
and economic activity, looks to be achievable by most developed
economies by the end of the third quarter. However, some emerging
markets may only be able to achieve widespread immunization by
year-end or later. S&P said, "We use these assumptions about
vaccine timing in assessing the economic and credit implications
associated with the pandemic. As the situation evolves, we will
update our assumptions and estimates accordingly."

The transaction securitizes a portfolio of primarily senior-secured
leveraged loans and bonds, and it will be managed by Rockford Tower
Capital Management LLC.

  Ratings List

  CLASS   RATING     AMOUNT     INTEREST RATE (%)    CREDIT
                   (MIL. EUR)                      ENHANCEMENT (%)

  A       AAA (sf)    248.000      3mE + 0.80        38.00
  B-1     AA (sf)      20.000      3mE + 1.25        29.25
  B-2     AA (sf)      15.000         1.75           29.25
  C       A (sf)       30.000      3mE + 2.35        21.75
  D       BBB (sf)     28.000      3mE + 3.45        14.75
  E       BB- (sf)     20.000      3mE + 5.96         9.75
  F       B- (sf)      12.000      3mE + 7.86         6.75
  Sub     NR           34.475          N/A             N/A

  NR--Not rated.
  N/A--Not applicable.
  3mE--Three-month Euro Interbank Offered Rate.


SCULPTOR CLO II: Moody's Assigns (P)B3 Rating to EUR12M F-R Notes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service announced that it has assigned the
following provisional ratings to refinancing notes to be issued by
Sculptor European CLO II DAC (the "Issuer"):

EUR2,000,000 Class X-R Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2034, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

EUR248,000,000 Class A-R Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2034, Assigned (P)Aaa (sf)

EUR37,000,000 Class B-R Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due
2034, Assigned (P)Aa2 (sf)

EUR26,000,000 Class C-R Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)A2 (sf)

EUR27,000,000 Class D-R Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)Baa3 (sf)

EUR22,000,000 Class E-R Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)Ba3 (sf)

EUR12,000,000 Class F-R Senior Secured Deferrable Floating Rate
Notes due 2034, Assigned (P)B3 (sf)

RATINGS RATIONALE

The rationale for the ratings is based on a consideration of the
risks associated with the CLO's portfolio and structure as
described in Moody's methodology.

Interest and principal amortisation amounts due to the Class X
Notes are paid pro rata with payments to the Class A Notes. The
Class X Notes amortise by EUR250,000 over the eight payment dates,
starting on the second payment date.

As part of this reset, the Issuer will issue EUR3,230,000 of
additional Subordinated Notes in addition to the EUR44,650,000 of
Subordinated Notes issued on 14 September 2017 which remain
outstanding. The Subordinated Notes are not rated. It will also
amend certain concentration limits, definitions including the
definition of "Adjusted Weighted Average Rating Factor" and minor
features. The issuer will include the ability to hold loss
mitigation obligations. In addition, the Issuer will also amend the
base matrix and modifiers that Moody's will take into account for
the assignment of the definitive ratings.

The Issuer is a managed cash flow CLO. At least 90% of the
portfolio must consist of secured senior loans or senior secured
bonds and up to 10% of the portfolio may consist of unsecured
senior loans, second-lien loans, high yield bonds and mezzanine
loans. The underlying portfolio is expected to be fully ramped as
of the closing date.

Sculptor Europe Loan Management Limited ("Sculptor Management")
will continue to manage the CLO. It will direct the selection,
acquisition and disposition of collateral on behalf of the Issuer
and may engage in trading activity, including discretionary
trading, during the transaction's four-year and 2-month
reinvestment period. Thereafter, subject to certain restrictions,
purchases are permitted using principal proceeds from unscheduled
principal payments and proceeds from sales of credit risk
obligations and credit improved obligations.

The transaction incorporates interest and par coverage tests which,
if triggered, divert interest and principal proceeds to pay down
the notes in order of seniority.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on economic
activity. Although global economies have shown a remarkable degree
of resilience to date and are returning to growth, the uneven
effects on individual businesses, sectors and regions will continue
throughout 2021 and will endure as a challenge to the world's
economies well beyond the end of the year. While persistent virus
fears remain the main risk for a recovery in demand, the economy
will recover faster if vaccines and further fiscal and monetary
policy responses bring forward a normalization of activity. As a
result, there is a heightened degree of uncertainty around Moody's
forecasts. Moody's analysis has considered the effect on the
performance of European corporate assets from a gradual and
unbalanced recovery in European economic activity.

Moody's regard the coronavirus outbreak as a social risk under
Moody's ESG framework, given the substantial implications for
public health and safety.

Methodology Underlying the Rating Action:

The principal methodology used in these ratings was "Moody's Global
Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan Obligations" published in
December 2020.

Factors that would lead to an upgrade or downgrade of the ratings:

The rated notes' performance is subject to uncertainty. The notes'
performance is sensitive to the performance of the underlying
portfolio, which in turn depends on economic and credit conditions
that may change. The collateral manager's investment decisions and
management of the transaction will also affect the notes'
performance.

Moody's modeled the transaction using a cash flow model based on
the Binomial Expansion Technique, as described in Section 2.3 of
the "Moody's Global Approach to Rating Collateralized Loan
Obligations" rating methodology published in December 2020.

Moody's used the following base-case modeling assumptions:

Performing par and principal proceeds balance: EUR397,801,167

Defaulted Par: EUR3,333,000 as of April 1, 2021

Diversity Score: 56

Weighted Average Rating Factor (WARF): 3050

Weighted Average Spread (WAS): 3.6%

Weighted Average Coupon (WAC): 3.5%

Weighted Average Recovery Rate (WARR): 43.5%

Weighted Average Life (WAL): 8.5 years



===================
L U X E M B O U R G
===================

FLINT HOLDCO: S&P Alters Outlook to Stable, Affirms 'CCC+' Ratings
------------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on Luxembourg-based Flint
HoldCo to stable from negative, and affirmed its 'CCC+' ratings on
the company and its first-lien facilities, and its 'CCC-' ratings
on its second-lien facilities.

The stable outlook reflects S&P's view that, thanks to the
completed debt maturity extension last year and strong cash
generation, Flint has sufficient liquidity to meet its financial
commitments and support its investments over the next 12 months,
while improving its operating performance and profitability.

Flint has sufficient liquidity to meet financial commitments in the
next 12 months, due to the extension of credit facilities and
strong cash flow generation in 2020.Flint successfully completed
the extension of its credit facilities in August 2020. The company
extended the maturity of its bank facilities by two years,
including its EUR103 million revolving credit facility (RCF) and
about EUR50 million asset-backed loan (ABL) facility due in March
2021, about EUR1.6 billion first-lien term loan (TL) due September
2021, and about EUR137 million second-lien TL due September 2022.
S&P viewed the transaction as proactive treasury management and
believe that Flint now has sufficient liquidity to meet its
financial commitments and support its investments in the next 12
months. S&P's view is also supported by the company's comfortable
cash position, which is mainly underpinned by working capital
inflows and asset disposals in the CPS business (print media) and
higher profitability in packaging. The cash generated from working
capital resulted from lower needs for the CPS shrinking business
and proactive management actions.

S&P said, "We believe the company's operating performance and
profitability will further improve, despite a significant
deterioration in free operating cash flow (FOCF) in 2021 versus
2020. Following higher growth capital expenditure (capex) and tax
payments as well as our assumption of modest adjusted working
capital outflows in 2021, we believe Flint will not be able to
generate strong positive FOCF this year. That said, the company's
cash balance should further increase throughout 2021, since we
include about EUR40 million of asset sale in our base case and
anticipate restructuring costs will decline to about EUR10 million
from EUR21 million in 2020. We expect lower exceptional costs
coupled with efficiency gains (including lower labor and other
overheads costs) and efficient sourcing will lead to S&P Global
Ratings-adjusted EBITDA increasing to about EUR220 million-EUR225
million in 2021 from EUR207 million in 2020. We therefore forecast
EBITDA margins to increase by about 150-200 basis points (bps) in
2021 and leverage to decline to about 9.0x from 9.7x in 2020. Our
base case also reflects a resilient performance in packaging in
2020 and 2021; which also benefits from consumer trends in key end
markets such as food packaging.

"The 'CCC+' rating continues to reflect Flint's very high leverage
and our view that the company's current capital structure remains
unsustainable in the long term.Despite our expectations of
declining leverage in 2021 and the two-year maturity extension, we
continue to view Flint's capital structure as unsustainable in the
long term, with relatively high refinancing risks, although we do
not expect Flint to face near-term credit or payment issues. S&P
Global Ratings-adjusted leverage remains very high, and there are
still EUR1.6 billion of term loans maturing in September 2023.
Positively, we understand that the company's priority will be
addressing challenges related to its capital structure. However, we
still do not factor any potential and material change in the
capital structure given the limited visibility we have at this
stage.

"The stable outlook reflects our view that thanks to the completed
debt maturity extension last year and strong cash generation, Flint
has sufficient liquidity to meet its financial commitments and
support its investments over the near term, while improving its
operating performance and profitability."

Downside scenario

S&P said, "We could lower the ratings if Flint's liquidity
deteriorates or we consider a specific default scenario to be
likely within 12 months. This could occur if the company were
unable to maintain sufficient cash balances, keep capex contained,
or experienced difficult market dynamics leading to weaker
operating results. We could also lower the rating if the company is
unable to progress with its asset-divestment strategy or address
long-term challenges related to its current capital structure."

Upside scenario

S&P said, "We could raise the ratings if Flint successfully
addresses challenges related to its capital structure. Under that
scenario, we would expect the company to report leverage
significantly below current levels and to benefit from a long-term
debt maturity profile."




=====================
N E T H E R L A N D S
=====================

EAGLE INTERMEDIATE: Moody's Hikes CFR to Caa1 on Improved Earnings
------------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has upgraded Eagle Intermediate Global
Holding B.V.'s (d/b/a The LYCRA Company) Corporate Family Rating to
Caa1 from Caa2. At the same time, Moody's has upgraded The LYCRA
Company's senior secured notes to Caa1 from Caa2, Probability of
Default rating to Caa1-PD from Caa2-PD, and Speculative Grade
Liquidity Rating to SGL-3 from SGL-4. The rating outlook remains
stable.

"The rating upgrade reflects an improvement in The Lycra Company's
earnings and liquidity profile, as well as a more supportive
operating environment thanks to the improving demand from the
textile industry. However, its credit rating remains constrained by
its high debt leverage and weaker credit quality of its majority
owner," said Jiming Zou, a Moody's Vice President and Lead Analyst
for The Lycra Company.

Ratings actions:

Upgrades:

Issuer: Eagle Intermediate Global Holding B.V.

Corporate Family Rating, Upgraded to Caa1 from Caa2

Probability of Default Rating, Upgraded to Caa1-PD from Caa2-PD

Speculative Grade Liquidity Rating, Upgraded to SGL-3 from SGL-4

Gtd Senior Secured 1st Lien USD Regular Bond/Debenture due 2025,
Upgraded to Caa1 (LGD4) from Caa2 (LGD4) (Co-issuer: Ruyi US
Finance LLC)

Gtd Senior Secured 1st Lien EUR Regular Bond/Debenture due 2023,
Upgraded to Caa1 (LGD4) from Caa2 (LGD4) (Co-issuer: Ruyi US
Finance LLC)

Outlook Actions:

Issuer: Eagle Intermediate Global Holding B.V.

Outlook, Remains Stable

RATINGS RATIONALE

The improving textile demand, a strong rebound in generic spandex
prices, a more favorable mix towards Lycra branded spandex and
lower firxed cost base after business restructuring will support
its 2021 earnings and cash flows, alleviating the concern over its
financial flexibility and its access to the revolving credit
facility. While the positive demand trend will continue with the
vaccination rollout and broader economic reopening in 2021,
incremental earnings growth will moderate in 2021 due to the
substantially higher costs of raw materials such as PTMEG and MDI.
Moody's expect the company's adjusted gross leverage to improve to
low to mid-7x and interest coverage to approach 2.0x during the
course of 2021. Any additional improvement will require incremental
sales growth, which looks challenging because the company is
currently operating near full capacity and its commercial strategy
is to keep a relatively stable price for its Lycra branded spandex
over time.

The Lycra Company reported a substantial increase in its earnings
for the second half of 2020 thanks to inventory replenishment by
textile customers, low raw material costs and reduced cost base.
Reported EBITDA rose to $147.5 million in 2020, versus $122.7
million in 2019. Adjusted debt leverage fell to 7.6x at the end of
2020, from 9.6x at the end of 2019.

The company's adequate liquidity profile (SGL-3) is supported by
its large cash balance, no near term maturity and improved cash
flow generation in the next 12 months. Cash balance was $117
million, including $20 million outstanding revolver, at the end of
2020. The company fully repaid its promissory notes in early 2021.
Management focus on cash conversion and lean inventory level will
keep additional working capital consumption at an adequate level in
2021. The springing financial covenant—consolidated net leverage
not exceeding 5.75x, if more than 25% of its $100 million revolver
is drawn—continues to constrain its financial flexibility in case
of a business downturn.

The rating continues to factor in the weak credit quality of its
parent company -- Shandong Ruyi Technology Group Co., Ltd. (Caa3
negative), which owns 53.4% of The LYCRA company. Ruyi's lingering
refinancing risk has a negative impact on The LYCRA Company's
execution of its business plan and results in an uncertainty with
regard to The LYCRA Company's ownership, which Moody's regard as a
governance risk under Moody's ESG framework.

The LYCRA Company's credit profile is supported by its leading
market position in the spandex industry with well-known brands and
its long-term relations with textile mills and garment
manufacturers. Its premium LYCRA(R) fiber brand spandex, including
LYCRA HyFit(R) fiber for diapers, account for about three quarters
of total sales. The company's continuous R&D efforts, ability to
launch new products and strategic plan to shift product mix to
higher-margin spandex will support its margins against generic
competition and cost inflations.

The stable outlook reflects the recovery in spandex demand and
price, the company's effort to improve earnings and maintain
adequate liquidity.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS

The rating could be downgraded, if the company's earnings
deteriorate and adjusted debt leverage rises above 8.0x or
liquidity profile weakens. In addition, a further deterioration in
Shandong Ruyi's credit quality could negatively impact The LYCRA
Company's rating.

A rating upgrade would require earnings recovery, free cash flow
generation and debt/EBITDA below 7.0x on a sustained basis. An
upgrade would also depend on a track record of prudent financial
policy, as well as an improvement in the credit rating of its
parent.

Eagle Intermediate Global Holding B.V. (The LYCRA Company) is a
leading producer of man-made fibers, including spandex, polyester
and nylon, which are used by many apparel brands. Its owns
well-known brands such as LYCRA(R) fiber, ELASPAN(R) fiber,
COOLMAX(R) and THERMOLITE(R), each of which provides garments with
desired functional performance. The company operates eight wholly
owned manufacturing and processing facilities in North America,
Europe, Asia and South America. In 2020, it generated about $885
million in revenues. Shandong Ruyi together with other investors
completed the acquisition the LYCRA Company from INVISTA Equities,
LLC. (Baa2 stable) in January 2019.

The principal methodology used in these ratings was Chemical
Industry published in March 2019.

TMF SAPPHIRE: S&P Raises Sr. Sec. Debt Rating to B, Outlook Stable
------------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings raised its ratings on Netherlands-based
corporate services provider TMF Group's Parent TMF Sapphire Midco
B.V. and Sapphire Bidco B.V. and on the group's first-lien senior
secured debt to 'B' from 'B-', and it also raised the issue rating
on the group's second lien loan to 'CCC+' from 'CCC'.

S&P said, "The stable outlook reflects our view that demand for the
group's services will remain steady and that it will maintain solid
EBITDA margins over the next 12 months, which will translate into
continued deleveraging and positive FOCF.

"The upgrade reflects better-than-expected operating results, as
well as our anticipation of further improved earnings and cash
flows in the coming 12 months. The COVID-19 pandemic has not had a
large impact on TMF Group's operating results in 2020, because the
group was able to implement remote working and digitalize delivery
processes quickly. Although TMF experienced some delays in new
sales, it improved its existing contracts' renewal rates and was
still able to win new clients. The company reported strong sales
performance in all regions, except Netherlands, where TMF continued
to face the impact of regulatory changes introduced by the Dutch
government in 2019, resulting in substantial declines in volumes of
new corporate structures; however, the pace of decline is now
slowing. But strong organic revenue growth in other regions and
external growth, including the full-year impact of State Street
(acquired in 2019), more than offset revenue decline in Netherlands
and some negative impact from foreign exchange (FX). Revenue
growth, a favorable margin mix with solid growth in higher-margin
fund administration business, productivity gains from previous
years' restructuring measures, and cost control in response to the
pandemic all supported stronger-than-expected EBITDA growth,
despite a high level of exceptional costs largely comprised of
integration costs for the State Street business. S&P Global
Ratings-adjusted EBITDA margins improved to 24.7% from 21.1% in
2019, and we forecast further improvements to above 25% in 2021,
mostly thanks to reduced exceptional costs, given that integration
costs will decrease.

"We expect TMF's credit metrics, including leverage and cash flow
generation, will further improve in 2021.Supported by strong
operating performance, TMF outperformed our forecast credit metrics
in 2020 and its adjusted leverage improved to about 8.2x (excluding
bank overdrafts). Solid revenue growth and better profitability
will support continued FOCF generation, also underpinned by the
group's improved working capital requirements, thanks to a focus on
cash discipline and stronger billing and receivables collection
processes. Despite the group's relatively high capital expenditure
(capex), at 5%-6% of sales, as it invests in digitalization, we
expect it will generate about EUR10 million-EUR25 million in FOCF
after lease payments in the next two years, while adjusted leverage
will further reduce to 7.7x in 2021 and again to 6.8x-7.3x in 2022.
These metrics are in line with our previous upside scenario for the
rating.

"Our rating incorporates our assessment of TMF's business risk
profile as fair, supported by the group's global presence,
well-diversified client base, modest barriers to entry, recurring
revenue, and flexible cost structure that underpins profitability.
Despite its limited market shares in the global funds and corporate
administration services market, TMF has established a worldwide
delivery platform enabling it to serve clients in multiple
countries, which is hard to replicate and somewhat mitigates our
view of the relatively low barriers to entry. About half of its
8,000 clients operate in more than one country, but TMF typically
serves them in only one or two locations, which provides favorable
growth prospects because TMF can expand alongside existing clients
by offering its services in new locations where its clients are
present. In addition, a high share of TMF's services, such as
regulatory filing, accounting, and tax services, are recurrent,
which creates strong earnings and cash flow visibility. As a
result, TMF has on average 90% of its revenue contractually
secured, or highly certain, at the beginning of each year. However,
our business risk assessment also takes into account the highly
competitive and fragmented nature of the market, where TMF has
weaker brand recognition than larger professional services firms,
and the potential exposure to litigation and reputation risk.

"We expect the company will pursue additional modest acquisitions
because the market is highly fragmented and consolidating. Since
the beginning of 2021, TMF has acquired three companies: IQ-Nexus
in Netherlands; Selectra Management in Luxembourg; and Venture Back
Office (VBO) in the U.S. All three acquisitions are consistent with
the group's strategy to expand its global funds services business.
TMF financed these acquisitions with internally generated cash. We
acknowledge the group's relatively prudent approach to acquisitions
in a sector where multiples are very high and we also note that TMF
has a track record of successfully integrating new businesses.
However, integration costs have a negative impact on our adjusted
EBITDA, and our base case conservatively includes some
acquisitions-related exceptional costs in 2021. We also believe
that TMF might undertake a larger, debt-funded acquisition if the
opportunity arises.

"The stable outlook reflects our view that demand for the group's
services will remain steady and that it will maintain solid EBITDA
margins over the next 12 months, which will translate into
continued deleveraging and positive FOCF."

S&P could lower the rating on TMF Group if it observed a material
deterioration in EBITDA margins, resulting from
higher-than-expected integration or other exceptional costs, in
turn leading to weaker operating cash flow and inability to
deleverage. In particular, S&P could lower the rating if:

-- FOCF after lease payments turned negative on a sustained
basis;

-- Funds from operations (FFO) cash interest coverage fell below
2x;

-- TMF faced liquidity issues and tighter covenant headroom; or

-- The group undertook an aggressive transaction, such as a large
debt-funded acquisition, or paid cash returns to shareholders,
resulting in substantial releveraging.

S&P said, "We could raise the rating if TMF demonstrated continued
revenue, EBITDA and FOCF growth, such that adjusted debt to EBITDA
improved toward 5x on a sustained basis. Under such a scenario, we
would also expect a strong commitment from the financial sponsor,
CVC, to maintain credit metrics at those levels."




===========
R U S S I A
===========

BANK ZENIT: Moody's Cuts Bank Deposit Ratings to B1 on Net Losses
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service downgraded Bank ZENIT PJSC's long-term
local and foreign currency bank deposit ratings and long-term local
currency senior unsecured debt ratings to B1 from Ba3 and changed
the outlook on these ratings to stable from negative. Concurrently,
Moody's downgraded the bank's Baseline Credit Assessment to b2 from
b1, its Adjusted BCA to b1 from ba3, its long-term local and
foreign currency Counterparty Risk Ratings to Ba3 from Ba2 and its
long-term Counterparty Risk Assessment (CR Assessment) to Ba3(cr)
from Ba2(cr). Bank Zenit's short-term local and foreign currency
deposit ratings and short-term local and foreign currency CRRs of
Not Prime and its short-term CR Assessment of Not Prime(cr)
(NP(cr)) were affirmed. The outlook has been changed to stable from
negative.

RATINGS RATIONALE

The downgrade of Bank Zenit's ratings and rating assessments is
driven by the reporting of net losses, which will weaken capital
buffers. At the same time, the bank's ratings continue to be
underpinned by its strong funding and liquidity, while its deposit
and debt ratings benefit from the affiliate support from Bank
Zenit's controlling shareholder.

In 2020, Bank Zenit p8osted RUB4.4 billion net loss under IFRS, 19%
of its shareholder equity. The bank's pre-provision profitability
decreased in 2020 and was not sufficient to absorb the increased
loan loss provisions. Its net interest margin dropped to 2.8% in
2020 from 3.2% in 2019, as the reduction of lending rates outpaced
that of the funding rates. Net fee and commission income also
dropped 19% in 2020 compared to 2019.

Bank Zenit's controlling shareholder, the oil company Tatneft PJSC
(Tatneft, Baa2 stable), intends to support the bank in 2021 by
purchasing from its balance sheet non-core assets totaling RUB6.7
billion. Moody's estimates that this measure, if implemented as
planned, will boost the bank's ratio of tangible common equity to
risk-weighted assets by approximately 2 percentage points up from
the modest level of 8.5% reported as of the end of 2020, while in
the absence of the above support measure the bank would likely be
loss-making and its capital buffer would continue to decline over
the next 12 to 18 months.

Bank Zenit's B1 long-term deposit ratings incorporate the bank's
BCA of b2 and a one-notch rating uplift reflecting Moody's
assessment of a moderate probability of affiliate support to the
bank from Tatneft.

In 2020, Bank Zenit's asset-quality indicators deteriorated. The
bank's problem loan ratio increased to 15.0% as of 31 December 2020
from 11.9% a year earlier, while credit losses increased to 2.7% of
average gross loans in 2020 from 0.2% in 2019. Partially
counterbalancing these solvency weaknesses, Bank Zenit's coverage
of problem loans by loan loss reserves was strong at 93% as of
December 31, 2020.

Bank Zenit's funding and liquidity are its strengths which underpin
the bank's b2 BCA. As of December 31, 2020, core customer deposits
represented 84% of the bank's non-equity funding, while its
reliance on market funding was low. Its ratio of liquid banking
assets to tangible banking assets was 31% as of December 31, 2020.

RATINGS OUTLOOK

The stable outlook on Bank Zenit's long-term deposit and debt
ratings takes into account the bank's current solvency and
liquidity profile, as well as the ongoing support from its
shareholder. Specifically, Moody's believes that, in case of
further significant deterioration of Bank Zenit's standalone credit
metrics, Tatneft will step in and support the bank's capital
adequacy either through another buy-out of non-core assets or
through a direct capital injection.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS

Any upward rating pressure is currently limited, given Bank Zenit's
weak financial performance, and could only materialize if the bank
returns to sustainable profitable operations while also
demonstrating an improvement in its asset quality metrics. Bank
Zenit's build-up of its capital adequacy levels would be another
prerequisite for any positive rating action.

Bank Zenit's BCA, deposit and debt ratings could be downgraded if
Moody's observes a further significant deterioration of its asset
quality, as well as substantial losses and capital erosion. Any
signs of diminished support from Tatneft to Bank Zenit, such as an
announcement of Tatneft's partial or full divestment from the bank,
could result in the downgrade of Bank Zenit's supported deposit and
debt ratings.

PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY

The principal methodology used in these ratings was Banks
Methodology published in March 2021.

SUEK JSC: Moody's Affirms Ba2 CFR & Alters Outlook to Stable
------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has affirmed the Ba2 corporate family
rating and Ba2-PD probability of default rating of SUEK JSC (SUEK)
as well as the Ba2 ratings affirmed to the senior unsecured bonds
issued by SUEK Finance, a Russia-domiciled wholly owned subsidiary
of SUEK. The outlook on SUEK and SUEK Finance has been changed to
stable from negative.

RATINGS RATIONALE

Pricing for thermal coal benchmarks strengthened in late 2020 and
early 2021. Average steam coal prices in the Pacific and Atlantic
basins, as measured by Newcastle and API2 benchmarks, recovered to
about $90/tonne and $68/tonne in April 2021 from about $60/tonne
and $50/tonne in 2020, respectively. Prices are also above Moody's
medium-term price sensitivity range of $55/tonne-$75/tonne
(Newcastle). Thermal coal demand will increase by more than 3%
globally in 2021, according to the International Energy Agency,
after falling by more than 5% in 2020, when the global coronavirus
pandemic reduced economic activity, and therefore demand for
electricity. Geopolitical tension between Australia and China in
early 2021 has temporarily influenced the global trade flow of
thermal coal as well. Until the two countries resolve their
dispute, China's reduction in Australian imports will benefit
producers in Indonesia, Russia, Mongolia, the US and Canada. Sales
of SUEK to Asia-Pacific market increased in 2020 and comprised 67%
of the total export coal sales (2019: 62%).

Based on the assumption of average steam coal prices in the Pacific
and Atlantic basins of $72/tonne and $58/tonne, respectively, and
exchange rate of 75 roubles per US dollar, Moody's expects that
SUEK's EBITDA, as adjusted by Moody's, will recover to about $2.5
billion in 2021 from $2.0 billion in 2020 and $2.2 billion in 2019.
Moody's expects the company to generate over $800 million - $900
million of free cash flows in 2021, which will allow the company to
reduce debt and keep the leverage, as measured by Moody's-adjusted
debt/EBITDA, at about 2.8x as of year-end 2021 (2020: 4.0x), within
the agency's range for the Ba2 rating of 2.0x-3.0x.

Exports made up over half of SUEK's total coal sales volumes and
88% of SUEK's coal revenues in 2020. Domestically, its coal sales
are mainly to power generators, including the company's captive
power plants thanks to SUEK's diversification into this segment.
SUEK's own power plants buy almost 70% of its domestic sales of
thermal coal, reducing the company's business risk. SUEK's
installed electricity capacity is now about 17.5 GW while the power
generation segment will contribute over 24% into SUEK's
consolidated EBITDA in 2021 (2020: 38%), under a range of pricing
scenarios. Logistics segment also contributes to operating profits
and EBITDA sustainability through the cycle. In 2020, when coal
prices were low and coal segment's operating profits became
immaterial, logistics and energy segment contributed 42% and 59%
into the company's consolidated operating profit, respectively.

The electricity and heat generation business, which SUEK had not
been exposed to before acquiring SGC in 2018, is somewhat less
volatile than thermal coal mining, which is sensitive to the
performance of key thermal coal export benchmarks, and will
contribute to financial metrics relative resilience at a time of
coal prices volatility. However, substantial debt following these
M&A transactions underscores the importance of debt reduction for
the company.

SUEK's Ba2 rating factors in (1) the company's status as a global
thermal coal producer; (2) the company's competitive operating
costs on the back of the weak rouble and cost-efficiency measures
as well as the ability to manage its capital spending needs; (3)
integration into power generation, which reduces volatility of
financial metrics through the cycle; (4) its vast coal reserves and
high operational diversification, with 27 operating sites; (5) the
company's control over a considerable portion of its transportation
infrastructure (including ports in Vanino, Murmansk and Maly, and a
large railcar fleet), which improves stability and reduces costs of
coal deliveries; (6) its high quality of coal products, and
diversified domestic and international customer base; (7) its
sustainable revenue from domestic sales, which is not linked to
seaborne benchmark prices; and (8) the proximity of the company's
mines to its power generation customers in Russia.

At the same time, the rating takes into account (1) the high
sensitivity of SUEK's earnings and leverage to the volatile thermal
coal prices in seaborne markets and the rouble exchange rate; (2)
the company's exposure to thermal coal; (3) its sizeable railway
expenses, which mainly depend on the level of regulated cargo
transportation tariffs in Russia; (4) the company's reliance on
available credit facilities to maintain adequate liquidity; (5)
SUEK's history of fairly aggressive liquidity management, as the
company tends to address its large refinancing needs six to twelve
months before debt maturity dates, on the back of continued access
to domestic and international debt financing; (6) the risks related
to the company's concentrated ownership structure, although
mitigated by good corporate governance; and (7) the uncertainty
regarding the long-term development of carbon emission regulation,
which could weaken global demand for thermal coal.

The company has adequate liquidity. As of 31 December 2020, SUEK's
liquidity comprised $183 million in cash and equivalents, around
$1.3 billion in available credit facilities, part of which was
committed, with final maturities beyond the following 12 months,
and over $2 billion in operating cash flow, which Moody's forecasts
the company to generate over the same period. This liquidity would
be sufficient to cover the company's short-term debt maturities of
around $1.7 billion, and capital spending of nearly $1.3 billion,
including lease payments (all metrics, as adjusted by Moody's),
over the following 12 months. Moody's expects that the company will
be able to extend the upcoming debt maturities in due course and
views the related refinancing risk as low because of SUEK's
continued access to international and domestic debt financing.
Moody's do not expect material dividend distributions in 2021-22.

RATIONALE FOR THE STABLE OUTLOOK

The stable outlook on SUEK's rating reflects Moody's expectation
that the company will adhere to balanced financial policies,
maintain moderate leverage and continue to generate positive
post-dividend free cash flow.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS

Moody's could upgrade SUEK's rating if the company were to (1)
reduce its total debt and Moody's-adjusted total debt/EBITDA to
below 2.0x; (2) generate positive post-dividend free cash flow; and
(3) maintain healthy liquidity and build a track record of
addressing its upcoming debt maturities in advance, on a
sustainable basis.

Moody's could downgrade the ratings if (1) the company's
Moody's-adjusted total debt/EBITDA were to exceed 3.0x on a
sustained basis; (2) the company was unable to generate positive
post-dividend free cash flow; or (3) its liquidity were to
deteriorate materially.

ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND GOVERNANCE (ESG) CONSIDERATIONS

Environmental, social, and governance factors will have a growing
impact on SUEK's credit quality. Moody's also believes that
investor concerns about the coal industry's ESG profile are
intensifying and coal producers will be increasingly challenged by
the access to capital issues in the future. A growing portion of
the global investment community is reducing or eliminating exposure
to the coal industry with greater emphasis on moving away from
thermal coal. The aggregate impact on the credit quality of the
coal industry is that debt capital will become more expensive over
this horizon, particularly in the public bond markets, which will
lead to much more focus on individual coal producers' ability to
fund their operations and articulate clearly their approach to
addressing environmental, social, and governance considerations.

Governance risks are an important consideration for all debt
issuers and are relevant to bondholders and banks because
governance weaknesses can lead to a deterioration in a company's
credit quality, while governance strengths can benefit a company's
credit profile. Similarly to its domestic peers, SUEK has a
concentrated ownership structure - Andrey Melnichenko is the
company's principal ultimate beneficiary. Concentrated ownership
structure creates the risk of rapid changes in the company's
strategy and development plans, revisions to its financial policy
and an increase in shareholder payouts that could weaken the
company's credit quality. The risk is mitigated by the company's
commitment to a conservative financial policy. Corporate governance
function is exercised through the oversight of independent members,
which make up five out of eight of the board of directors' seats,
as well as via relevant board's committees while the board is being
chaired by an independent director.

PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY

The principal methodology used in these ratings was Mining
published in September 2018.

COMPANY PROFILE

SUEK is the holding company of one of the world's largest thermal
coal producers, one of Russia's largest producers of thermal coal,
electricity and heat as well as among top five gondola railcars and
port operators in Russia. The company operates 19 opencast mines,
eight underground mines and ten coal-washing plants in eight
geographical regions, mostly in Siberia and the Russian Far East,
as well as 27 power generation stations in Siberia. In 2020, the
company generated revenue of $6.7 billion and Moody's-adjusted
EBITDA of $2.0 billion. SUEK owns rail infrastructure, rail rolling
stock, the Vanino Bulk Terminal (a coal terminal at Vanino in the
Sea of Japan), the ice-free Murmansk Commercial Seaport and bulk
terminal in the northwest of Russia, a 49.9% stake in the Maly Port
in the Russian Far East, and Tuapse bulk terminal. The company's
principal ultimate beneficiary is Andrey Melnichenko.

TMK: S&P Lowers Rating to 'B+' on Weak Credit Metrics, Outlook Neg.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings lowered its rating on Russian steel pipe
producer TMK to 'B+' from 'BB-'.

The negative outlook reflects the possibility that S&P would
further lower the rating on TMK if its FFO to debt does not recover
toward 15% because of aggressive financial policy decisions, high
investments, or weak markets.

S&P said, "The downgrade to 'B+' reflects our expectation that
TMK's FFO to debt will be significantly below our 20% target for
the 'BB-' rating in the coming years. We expect that TMK's FFO to
debt will remain in the 10%-14% range in 2021, versus 11.9% in
2020. At the same time, we expect that the group's debt to EBITDA
will increase to 4.5x-5.0x from 3.6x in 2020. TMK's acquisition of
ChelPipe in March 2021 will contribute to the increased leverage.
We estimate it adds roughly Russian ruble (RUB) 78 billion to the
group's net debt, on top of consolidation of ChelPipe's debt, which
amounted to RUB85 billion at the end of 2020. We note that TMK
decided to pay RUB10 billion dividends ahead of the transaction,
which put further pressure on the credit metrics. Overall, we
expect that the group's S&P Global Ratings-adjusted debt will more
than double to about RUB278 billion by the end of 2021 versus
RUB128 billion at year-end 2020. After 2021, we expect leverage to
start decreasing gradually with FFO to debt moving toward 15% and
debt to EBITDA toward 3.5x, which we consider commensurate with the
'B+' rating. Deleveraging will be a result of both EBITDA
improvements and gradual debt repayments out of positive free cash
flow. While the former appears likely on the back of a gradually
recovering oil country tubular goods (OCTG) market, especially
beyond 2021, and the synergies from ChelPipe acquisition. We note
that relative stability of TMK's FFO to debt in 2021, our key
metric for TMK, is explained by reduced FFO in 2020, because it
included about RUB4 billion income tax on the sale of IPSCO
Tubulars, while TMK's S&P Global Ratings-adjusted EBITDA was
somewhat inflated, as it included RUB7 billion of foreign exchange
(FX) gain. With no expectation of extra taxes or FX adjustments for
this year, we expect a positive impact on FFO and negative impact
on EBITDA in 2021. Thus, FFO to debt will remain flat but debt to
EBITDA will be meaningfully higher in 2021."

Operating performance of the combined group will remain under
pressure in 2021, improving gradually in 2022-2023, as the OCTG
market recovers. In 2021-2022 the combined group's operating
performance will continue to be constrained by lower demand in the
group's key OCTG market before the expiry of OPEC+ oil production
cuts in April 2022. S&P said, "Given that oil companies have to
maintain lower oil production, we expect their drilling activities
to be reduced in 2021 and early 2022, in turn lowering demand for
OCTG products. This means that full recovery of the OCTG market
will be unlikely before 2023. Still, we expect some improvement in
the combined group's sales of line and industrial pipes as Russia's
economy recovers from the pandemic. As a result, combined group
EBITDA could reach RUB55 million-RUB65 billion in 2021, compared
with TMK's S&P Global Ratings-adjusted RUB35.5 billion (including
RUB7 billion of FX gain) delivered in 2020 and an estimated RUB25
billion that the consolidated part of ChelPipe delivered the same
year (Rimera Group, the oilfield services part of ChelPipe, was not
included in the transaction, leading to lower EBITDA calculation).
At this point we don't incorporate large synergies from the
acquisition in our base case owing to limited visibility, although
specialization between different plants of the group, shutting down
inefficient and excess capacity, and more efficient corporate
spending could lead to some synergies. Therefore, there is some
upside to our EBITDA forecast of RUB60 billion-RUB70 billion in
2022 and RUB65 billion-RUB75 billion in 2023, as oil production and
therefore drilling volumes rebound in Russia, leading to higher
OCTG sales volumes."

S&P said, "We view TMK's financial policy as aggressive, reflecting
its weak financial discipline over the last few years. Over the
last few years, TMK's financial discipline was weak because the
company did not use the majority of the proceeds from the IPSCO
sale to reduce debt, as it had announced, but instead used part of
this cash for buybacks and dividends at a time of industry
downturn. The decision to pay RUB10 billion as dividends before the
ChelPipe acquisition also contributes to our assessment of the
group's financial policy. Still, to maintain the 'B+' rating, the
group will have to demonstrate a more prudent approach, in line
with its target to reduce absolute debt after the acquisition. TMK
therefore has limited leeway to increase capital spending (capex),
pay extra dividends, provide loans, buy back shares, or participate
in large development projects. We will also look closely at the
company's refinancing of RUB108 billion of debt in the coming 12
months (after April 1, 2021), which is about 38% of group's total
debt.

"We view the ChelPipe acquisition as only moderately positive for
TMK's business risk. After the transaction, TMK is the world's
largest steel pipe producer, significantly exceeding the size of
Tenaris and Vallourec by sales volumes. In Russia, TMK will achieve
a near-monopoly position in certain segments of the market, such as
seamless industrial pipes (about 85% share) and OCTG (about 65%
share), the most lucrative pipe segment. TMK might also optimize
group performance and achieve certain synergies. Still, the
transaction will not diversify TMK's business because it will
continue to be heavily exposed to Russia, a high-risk country,
where roughly 90% of its sales will be made, and to the OCTG
market, which is currently indirectly constrained by the OPEC+
production cuts. Additionally, we understand that the approval of
the transaction by Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service includes
certain limitations on TMK's pricing policies in segments where it
enjoys near-monopoly status, so synergies should come from lower
costs and more efficient sales rather than higher prices. Overall,
we believe that TMK's fair business risk compares well with that of
Russian steel producers, such as Evraz, Severstal, and NLMK, which
are more diverse in terms of geography of sales and industry
exposure, as well as more profitable, but command lower market
shares than TMK.

"The negative outlook on TMK reflects the possibility that we would
lower the rating on TMK if its FFO to debt does not recover to
about 15% in 2022. This could happen if TMK's financial policy
remains aggressive and the company does not manage to reduce
absolute debt on the back of EBITDA growth."

Rating pressures could also arise if TMK's markets remain under
pressure with lower volumes and profitability of sales or if TMK
fails to integrate ChelPipe efficiently into its operating model
and achieve sales and cost synergies.

S&P could also lower the rating on TMK if its liquidity
deteriorates due to company's inability to timely arrange
refinancing for meaningful maturities coming due over the next 12
months or if there is a meaningful risk of the covenant breach.

Pressure on the rating might materialize if the company prioritizes
further growth or takes aggressive financial policy decisions, as
opposed to absolute debt reduction.

S&P could revise the outlook to stable if it believes that TMK's
FFO to debt could eventually reach 15% in 2022 as the group's
EBITDA improves while its debt is gradually repaid.

Over the longer term, improvement of FFO to debt to sustainably
above 20% could support an upgrade.


VSK: Fitch Alters Outlook on 'BB' IFS Rating to Stable
------------------------------------------------------
Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on Russia-based Insurance
Joint Stock Company VSK's Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) Rating
to Stable from Negative and affirmed the IFS Rating at 'BB'.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

The revision of VSK's Outlook to Stable reflects Fitch's
expectation that credit losses within the fixed-income portfolio,
under Fitch's conservative best estimate assumptions for 2021 and
2022, will only be moderate and therefore allow capital and
profitability metrics to remain within tolerances for VSK's rating.
Fitch's current expectations for VSK are more favorable than the
pro-forma results implied by Fitch's 2020 coronavirus stress test
analysis, which was the basis for the previous Negative Outlook.

The rating continues to reflect VSK's weak capitalisation &
leverage credit factor, strong albeit volatile financial
performance, favourable business profile and moderate investment
risk.

VSK's capital score, as measured by Fitch's Prism factor-based
capital (FBM) model, remained below 'Somewhat Weak' at end-2020,
albeit slightly strengthened compared with end-2019. This was
driven by sound but weaker profit generation being largely offset
by dividend outflows and business expansion.

From a regulatory capital perspective, Insurance JSC VSK's solvency
margin was 192% at end-2020 (end-2019: (179%). The tightening of
the Russian insurance prudential regulations coming into effect
from 30 June 2021 is likely to lead the company to take additional
steps to improve the quality of its balance sheet. However, Fitch
expect VSK to remain compliant and meet the higher capital
requirements by a comfortable margin.

In 2020, VSK generated a positive net result. However, the
company's profitability has been somewhat volatile over past three
years. On a consolidated basis, VSK's net profit weakened to RUB4
billion from RUB7 billion in 2019, with net income return on equity
(ROE) declining to 12% from 24%. The weakening was due to a
negative underwriting result recorded in the non-life segment,
which was partly offset by FX gains on investments of RUB2.2
billion and strong investment returns. VSK's combined ratio,
calculated for the non-life segment only, deteriorated to 102% in
2020 from 93% in 2019 due to the worsened underwriting
profitability in compulsory motor third-party liability (MTPL), one
of the insurer's key lines of business. The company faced the
considerable increase of the average claim and frequency in 4Q20
for electronic policies sold via the system of the Russian Union of
Motor Insurers.

Fitch continues to assess VSK's business profile as favourable in
the domestic non-life insurance sector due to adequately
diversified business mix and distribution capabilities. In 2020
VSK's written premiums declined slightly by 1% and 2% on a gross
and on a net basis due to the pandemic-related lockdown in 2Q20, in
particular in accident and compulsory MTPL lines. Net premiums
declined 24% in 2Q20 versus 2Q19. This development was partially
offset by strong top-line performance recorded in 1Q20 and in 4Q20.
Fitch believes that the pandemic had a marginal effect on the
insurer's business profile.

Fitch believes that VSK adheres to a prudent investment strategy,
with the majority of its assets being invested in diversified
fixed-income portfolio, which accounted for 73% of total
investments at end-2020. However, the risky assets to equity ratio
was high at 133% at end-2020 (end-2019: 126%), due to the exposure
to non-investment-grade securities, in particular domestic bonds.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factor that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive
rating action/upgrade:

-- A strengthening of VSK's capitalisation, as measured by its
    Prism FBM score, provided that the company maintains a
    diversified business profile.

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative
rating action/downgrade:

-- A significant weakening in VSK's capitalisation, as measured
    by Prism FBM.

-- A significant deterioration in VSK's profitability, reflected
    in bottom-line net losses on a sustained basis.

BEST/WORST CASE RATING SCENARIO

International scale credit ratings of Financial Institutions and
Covered Bond issuers have a best-case rating upgrade scenario
(defined as the 99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in
a positive direction) of three notches over a three-year rating
horizon; and a worst-case rating downgrade scenario (defined as the
99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in a negative
direction) of four notches over three years. The complete span of
best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings for all rating
categories ranges from 'AAA' to 'D'. Best- and worst-case scenario
credit ratings are based on historical performance.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS

Unless otherwise disclosed in this section, the highest level of
ESG credit relevance is a score of '3'. This means ESG issues are
credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity,
either due to their nature or the way in which they are being
managed by the entity.



=========
S P A I N
=========

CODERE SA: Moody's Lowers CFR to Ca & Alters Outlook to Negative
----------------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Codere S.A.'s corporate
family rating to Ca from Caa3 and its probability of default to
C-PD from Caa3-PD. Concurrently, Moody's has also downgraded the
instrument ratings on the EUR500 million and USD300 million senior
secured notes both due 2023 to Ca from Caa3 and the instrument
rating on the EUR250 million super senior notes due 2023 to Caa1
from B3, all three issued by Codere Finance 2 (Luxembourg) S.A.. In
parallel, Moody's has assigned a Caa1 instrument rating to the
proposed EUR100 million bridge notes due 2026 that will be issued
in two tranches by Codere Finance 2 (Luxembourg) S.A.. The outlook
on all ratings has been changed to negative from stable.

On April 22, 2021, Codere announced that it reached an agreement
for the terms of a proposed restructuring with an ad hoc group of
existing bondholders (AHG). The transaction includes the issuance
of EUR100 million bridge notes, that are pari passu with the
existing super senior notes. The bridge notes will be issued in two
tranches: a EUR30 million on signing of the lock-up agreement and a
EUR70 million in May. As part of the proposed restructuring, the
EUR500 million and USD300 million senior secured notes will be
exchanged into EUR135 million and USD81 million reinstated senior
secured notes, EUR226 million subordinated PIK notes and 95% of the
share capital of the New Topco.

Moody's will likely consider the maturity extension on the super
senior notes and the debt-for-equity swap on the senior secured
notes as a distressed exchange.

On March 30, 2021, Codere announced the deferral of its interest
payments due March 31, 2021 in respect of the super senior notes,
using the 30-day grace period. Under the terms of the lock-up
agreement, the grace period will be extended by another 30 days.
Proceeds from the second tranche of the bridge notes will be used
to pay the overdue interest in May.

RATINGS RATIONALE

Moody's has downgraded Codere's CFR to Ca following the company's
announcement that it will restructure its capital structure and
that this has been agreed by an ad hoc group of bondholders. The
rating action reflects the lower recovery than previously
calculated by Moody's because of the longer-than-expected
coronavirus-related disruptions and the increased lack of
visibility that EBITDA will recover once retail facilities reopen.

The bridge notes are considered necessary for the company to have
sufficient liquidity over the coming months. While Moody's
previously expected the company to run out of cash by the end of
April 2021, the rating agency now calculates that the injections of
EUR30 million in April and EUR70 million in May will provide
additional time for Codere to restructure its debt.

However, Moody's considers that the sustainability of the
contemplated structure remains a key concern as the interest in
kind will accrue rapidly and EBITDA growth prospects are relatively
limited over the next two years.

FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS

Upward pressure on the ratings could arise if the company achieves
a strong and sustainable recovery in profitability such that the
overall recovery of the company's debt is higher than anticipated
by the rating agency and implied by the Ca CFR. A positive rating
action could also require that Codere addresses its capital
structure in a manner that leaves it with adequate liquidity.

The ratings could be further downgraded if recoveries are lower
than those implied by the Ca CFR.

STRUCTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

The C-PD PDR reflects Moody's view that a default is imminent and
inevitable following the announced lock-up agreement and Moody's
expectations that Codere would have run out of cash by the end
April without the fresh capital injected into the business. The
super senior notes and the bridge notes rank pari passu and are
rated Caa1, three notches above the current CFR, due to their
priority over the proceeds in an enforcement under the
Intercreditor Agreement. The senior secured notes are rated Ca, in
line with the CFR.

PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY

The principal methodology used in these ratings was the Gaming
Methodology published in October 2020.

COMPANY PROFILE

Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Madrid (Spain), Codere is an
international gaming operator. The company is present in nine
countries where it has market leading positions: Spain and Italy in
Europe and Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Panama and Colombia in Latin
America. In 2020, the company reported operating revenue of EUR595
million and adjusted EBITDA of EUR23 million.

FTA UCI 16: S&P Raises Class B Notes Rating to 'BB- (sf)'
---------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings raised its credit ratings on Fondo de
Titulizacion de Activos UCI 16's class A2 and B notes to 'A+ (sf)'
and 'BB- (sf)', from 'BBB+ (sf)' and 'B (sf)', respectively. S&P
also affirmed its ratings on the class C, D, and E notes at 'CCC+
(sf),' 'CCC (sf)', and 'D (sf)', respectively.

S&P said, "The rating actions follow the implementation of our
revised criteria and assumptions for assessing pools of Spanish
residential loans. They also reflect our full analysis of the most
recent information that we have received and the transaction's
current structural features.

"Upon expanding our global RMBS criteria to include Spanish
transactions, we placed our ratings on the class A2 and B notes
under criteria observation. Following our review of the
transaction's performance and the application of our updated
criteria for rating Spanish RMBS transactions, the ratings are no
longer under criteria observation."

In this transaction, 52.2% of the portfolio has been restructured
at least once since origination. Out of this share, 19.1% is
currently under restructuring arrangements, while 15% of those
arrangements have already been extended for more than seven years.
These borrowers are paying a lower amount compared with their
original schedule. Therefore, S&P has increased its reperforming
adjustment to 5x from 2.5x because we consider that these loans
introduce higher risk in the transaction, and these restructures do
not appear to be successful, are not a permanent solution, and they
have been extended multiple times.

S&P said, "Our weighted-average foreclosure frequency (WAFF)
assumptions have increased due to the higher originator adjustment
and the consideration of restructured loans in the pool. This has
offset the calculation of the effective loan-to-value (LTV) ratio,
which is based on 80% original LTV (OLTV) and 20% current LTV
(CLTV). Under our previous criteria, we used only the OLTV.

"In addition, our weighted-average loss severity (WALS) assumptions
have decreased, due to the lower CLTV and lower market value
declines. However, this is partially offset by the increase in our
foreclosure cost assumptions. Additionally, based on actual data
received from comparable asset sales, we have seen a risk that
property prices were overvalued at origination. Therefore, we have
introduced a 10% haircut on valuations."

  Table 1

  Credit Analysis Results

  RATING     WAFF (%)     WALS (%)    CREDIT COVERAGE (%)
  AAA        57.06        29.51        16.84
  AA         47.31        26.27        12.43
  A          41.17        20.48         8.43
  BBB        35.41        17.59         6.23
  BB         27.91        15.63         4.36
  B          20.51        13.88         2.85

  WAFF--Weighted-average foreclosure frequency.
  WALS--Weighted-average loss severity.

UCI 16's class A2, B, C, and D notes' credit enhancement has
increased to 25.6%, 11.5%, 3.4% and 1.6%, respectively, from 21.7%,
9.5%, 2.5%, and 0.9% as of our previous review due to the notes'
amortization, which is sequential following the arrears trigger
breach. This trigger also prevents the reserve fund from
amortizing, which currently stands at its target level. Given that
the three-month Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR) is currently
negative and considering the margin on the notes, no interest is
due on the class A2 and B notes. Therefore, collections are
currently used to pay principal on the class A2 notes and only
interest on the class C and D notes.

Loan-level arrears decreased to 4%, compared with 5.9% as of the
previous review as per the investor report. Overall delinquencies
remain in line with S&P's Spanish RMBS index.

S&P said, "Our analysis also considers the transaction's
sensitivity to the potential repercussions of the coronavirus
outbreak. Of the pool, around 4.8% of loans are on payment holidays
under the Spanish sectorial moratorium schemes, and the proportion
of loans with either legal or sectorial payment holidays has
remained in line with the market average, which is below 5%. The
latest government approved payment holiday scheme was available
until March 31, 2021, where the payment holidays could last up to
nine months. In our analysis, we considered the risk the payment
holidays could present should they become arrears or defaults in
the future.

"Our operational, rating above the sovereign, counterparty, and
legal risk analyses remain unchanged since our last review.
Therefore, the ratings assigned are not capped by any of these
criteria. The replacement framework for the collection account does
not satisfy our counterparty criteria. Therefore, we stressed one
month of commingling risk as a loss.

"We have raised to 'A+ (sf)' and 'BB- (sf)', from 'BBB+ (sf)' and
'B (sf)', our ratings on the class A and B notes, respectively. The
class A and B notes could withstand our cash-flow stresses at
higher ratings than the revised ratings. However, our revised
ratings consider the uncertain macroeconomic environment, the
historical performance of the transaction, the amount of
restructured loans in the portfolio, and the risk that payment
holidays could become arrears in the future.

"Although credit enhancement has increased for the class C and D
notes, these classes are still failing our cash flow 'B' stresses.
We consider these classes to still be vulnerable to nonpayment and
to be dependent upon favorable business, financial, or economic
conditions to meet their financial commitments. Therefore, we have
affirmed our 'CCC+ (sf)' and 'CCC (sf)' ratings on the class C and
D notes."

The class E notes paid all unpaid interest due on the March 2020
interest payment date. Since then, interest on this tranche has
been paid timely. However, this tranche is not collateralized and
is paid after amortization of the reserve fund. It missed a
significant amount of interest payments in the past, and it is
still not certain that future interest payments will not be missed.
Given its current credit enhancement and its position in the
waterfall, S&P has affirmed its 'D (sf)' rating on the class E
notes.

S&P Global Ratings believes there remains high, albeit moderating,
uncertainty about the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic and its
economic effects. Vaccine production is ramping up and rollouts are
gathering pace around the world. Widespread immunization, which
will help pave the way for a return to more normal levels of social
and economic activity, looks to be achievable by most developed
economies by the end of the third quarter. However, some emerging
markets may only be able to achieve widespread immunization by
year-end or later. S&P said, "We use these assumptions about
vaccine timing in assessing the economic and credit implications
associated with the pandemic. As the situation evolves, we will
update our assumptions and estimates accordingly."


FTA UCI 17: S&P Raises Class B Notes Rating to 'CCC+ (sf)'
----------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings raised its credit ratings on Fondo de
Titulizacion de Activos UCI 17's class A2 and B notes to 'A- (sf)'
and 'CCC+ (sf)', from 'BBB (sf)' and 'CCC (sf)', respectively. S&P
also affirmed its 'D (sf)' ratings on the class C and D notes.

S&P said, "The rating actions follow the implementation of our
revised criteria and assumptions for assessing pools of Spanish
residential loans. They also reflect our full analysis of the most
recent information that we have received and the transaction's
current structural features.

"Upon expanding our global RMBS criteria to include Spanish
transactions, we placed our ratings on the class A2 notes under
criteria observation. Following our review of the transaction's
performance and the application of our updated criteria for rating
Spanish RMBS transactions, the ratings are no longer under criteria
observation."

In this transaction, 53.5% of the portfolio has been restructured
at least once since origination. Out of this share, 22% is
currently under restructuring arrangements, while 18% of those
arrangements have already been extended for more than seven years.
These borrowers are paying a lower amount compared with their
original schedule. Therefore, S&P has increased its reperforming
adjustment to 5x from 2.5x because it considers that these loans
introduce higher risk in the transaction, and these restructures do
not appear to be successful, are not a permanent solution, and they
have been extended multiple times.

S&P said, "Our weighted-average foreclosure frequency (WAFF)
assumptions have increased due to the higher originator adjustment
and the consideration ofrestructured loans in the pool. This has
offset the calculation of the effective loan-to-value (LTV) ratio,
which is based on 80% original LTV (OLTV) and 20% current LTV
(CLTV). Under our previous criteria, we used only the OLTV.

"In addition, our weighted-average loss severity (WALS) assumptions
have decreased, due to the lower CLTV and lower market value
declines. However, this is partially offset by the increase in our
foreclosure cost assumptions. Additionally, based on actual data
received from comparable asset sales, we have seen a risk that
property prices were overvalued at origination. Therefore, we have
introduced a 10% haircut on valuations."

  Table 1

  Credit Analysis Results

  RATING     WAFF (%)    WALS (%)   CREDIT COVERAGE (%)
  AAA        57.89       33.09       19.16
  AA         48.09       29.71       14.29
  A          41.64       23.62        9.84
  BBB        35.56       20.54        7.30
  BB         28.00       18.42        5.16
  B          20.61       16.50        3.40

  WAFF--Weighted-average foreclosure frequency.
  WALS--Weighted-average loss severity.

UCI 17's class A2, B, and C notes' credit enhancement has increased
to 20%, 3.7%, and -2.5%, respectively, from 15.3%, 1.3%, and -4.1%
as of our previous review due to the notes' amortization, which is
sequential following the arrears trigger breach. In this
transaction, the reserve has been fully depleted since 2010. Given
that the three-month Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR) is
currently negative and considering the margin on the notes, no
interest is due on the class A2 and B notes. Therefore, collections
are currently used to pay principal on the class A2 notes and only
interest on the class C notes.

Loan-level arrears remained stable at 6%, compared with 6.3% as of
the previous review as per the investor report. Overall
delinquencies remain in line with our Spanish RMBS index.

S&P said, "Our analysis also considers the transaction's
sensitivity to the potential repercussions of the coronavirus
outbreak. Of the pool, around 6.8% of loans are on payment holidays
under the Spanish sectorial moratorium schemes, and the proportion
of loans with either legal or sectorial payment holidays has
remained higher than the market average, which is below 5%. The
latest government approved payment holiday scheme was available
until March 31, 2021, where the payment holidays could last up to
nine months. In our analysis, we considered the risk the payment
holidays could present should they become arrears or defaults in
the future.

"Our operational, rating above the sovereign, counterparty, and
legal risk analyses remain unchanged since our last review.
Therefore, the ratings assigned are not capped by any of these
criteria. The replacement framework for the collection account does
not satisfy our counterparty criteria. Therefore, we stressed one
month of commingling risk as a loss.

"We have raised to 'A- (sf)' and 'CCC+ (sf)', from 'BBB (sf)' and
'CCC (sf)', our ratings on the class A and B notes, respectively.
The class A and B notes could withstand our cash-flow stresses at
higher ratings than the revised ratings. However, our revised
ratings consider the uncertain macroeconomic environment, the
historical performance of the transaction, the amount of
restructured loans in the portfolio, and the risk that payment
holidays could become arrears in the future.

"Although credit enhancement and our cash flow results have
improved for the class B notes, we still consider them to be
vulnerable to nonpayment and dependent upon favorable business,
financial, or economic conditions to meet their financial
commitments."

The class C notes paid all unpaid interest due on the March 2019
interest payment date. Since then, interest on this tranche has
been paid timely. Given that it is difficult to predict recoveries,
historical performance, and level of defaults the securitized
portfolio has experienced, interest payments may depend on excess
spread. In addition, this tranche is undercollateralized, it missed
a significant amount of interest payments in the past, and it is
still not certain that future interest payments will not be missed.
S&P sad, "We expect to see more stability on interest payments
before upgrading this tranche. Given its current credit
enhancement, the lack of reserve fund, and its position in the
waterfall, we have affirmed our 'D (sf)' rating on the class C
notes."

At the same time, S&P has affirmed its 'D (sf)' rating on the class
D notes, as this class of notes continues not to pay timely
interest.

S&P Global Ratings believes there remains high, albeit moderating,
uncertainty about the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic and its
economic effects. Vaccine production is ramping up and rollouts are
gathering pace around the world. Widespread immunization, which
will help pave the way for a return to more normal levels of social
and economic activity, looks to be achievable by most developed
economies by the end of the third quarter. However, some emerging
markets may only be able to achieve widespread immunization by
year-end or later. S&P said, "We use these assumptions about
vaccine timing in assessing the economic and credit implications
associated with the pandemic. As the situation evolves, we will
update our assumptions and estimates accordingly."




===========
S W E D E N
===========

TRANSCOM TOPCO: S&P Affirms 'CCC+' Ratings, Outlook Negative
------------------------------------------------------------
S&P Global Ratings affirmed its 'CCC+' ratings on Sweden-Based
Transcom Topco, and the group's EUR180 million senior secured bonds
due in March 2023, and assigned its 'CCC+' rating to Transcom
Holding AB, the group's subsidiary that issued the debt.

The outlook is negative because of uncertainty relating to upcoming
debt maturities, despite significantly improved operating
performance and S&P's expectation that EBITDA margins will increase
to 10.5%-11.5% and debt to EBITDA will decrease to 4.3x-4.5x in
2021.

Transcom performed better than we expected in 2020, but
profitability still decreased and leverage was higher than in 2019.
S&P said, "The company's recovery was stronger than we anticipated
in the second half of last year, thanks to increased demand from
its e-commerce and technology clients that resulted in revenue
growth of 3% for the full year (versus the 4% contraction we
forecast in May 2020). This growth was aided by the increase in
capacity, as Transcom moved more than 60% of its workforce to
working from home to ensure continued service and support
e-commerce growth. However, the S&P Global Ratings-adjusted EBITDA
margin decreased to 8.7% from 11.9% in 2019, which is lower than
the 10.2% we expected. This was due to higher-than-anticipated
exceptional costs, which mainly related to COVID-19 and the
company's transformation plan. Transcom generated
stronger-than-anticipated free operating cash flow (FOCF) of about
EUR12 million, but with the majority of this from deferred tax
payments supporting working capital during the year. In 2020, S&P
Global Ratings-adjusted debt to EBITDA was better than we forecast
at 5.9x due to a lower adjustment for International Financial
Reporting Standard 16, but leverage increased year over year."

S&P said, "We expect a stronger underlying performance in 2021,
underpinned by economic recovery and new contracts.We forecast
Transcom's sales will increase by 7.5%-8.5% in 2021 and S&P Global
Ratings-adjusted EBITDA margins to about 10.5%-11.5%. The company
should benefit from higher volumes across all segments, since we
expect COVID-19-containments measures will barely affect clients,
as was demonstrated during the second wave of infections toward the
end of 2020. The increased topline results will have a positive
effect on profitability. Furthermore, we forecast Transcom will
pass the extra costs from COVID-19 measures on to clients,
resulting in lower exceptional costs. We expect Transcom will keep
increasing its share of contracts in the higher-margin e-commerce
technology segment, where it has the most potential to grow. We
also expect the company will benefit from new higher-profitability,
nearshore and offshores platforms, notably to increase its service
capability to the North American market.

"Despite the improved underlying performance in 2020 and solid
prospects for 2021, weak liquidity and upcoming debt maturities
constrain the ratings. With our operating performance expectations
for 2021, we forecast S&P Global Ratings-adjusted leverage will
reach about 4.2x-4.7x in 2021 and continued positive FOCF of EUR5
million-EUR10 million. However, given a number of pending payments,
we expect Transcom will draw on its revolver for liquidity support.
We believe the company will benefit in 2021 from the deferral of
about EUR10.5 million it owes to the Swedish state, whereas an
additional EUR10 million could be disbursed in 2022 to settle a
social security litigation with the Spanish state. With the EUR13.4
million earn-out due for the 2018 acquisition of Awesome OS, we
forecast Transcom will have to draw on its EUR47 million super
senior secured revolving credit facility (RCF), which matures in
September 2022, at the same time as the EUR10 million fixed-rate
secured notes. We therefore forecast Transcom could face liquidity
issues by the end of 2022 if it does not refinance its senior
secured revolving credit facility (SSRCF) or extend its fixed-rate
secured notes due in 2022. We therefore still believe that
Transcom's financial commitments appear to be unsustainable,
although the company might not face a near-term (within 12 months)
credit or payment crisis, but that the likelihood of a successful
refinancing has improved with the recovery in operations.

"Our negative outlook reflects the uncertainty relating to the debt
maturities in September 2022 and March 2023, despite a
significantly improved operating performance and our expectation of
EBITDA margins increasing to 10.5%-11.5% and leverage reducing to
4.3x-4.5x in 2021.

"We could lower the rating if operational underperformance leads to
negative FOCF and further pressures liquidity, which pending debt
maturities could exacerbate if not refinanced in the near term.

"We could take a positive rating action if Transcom refinances its
upcoming debt maturities within the next few months and executes
its new contracts, while sustaining an S&P Global Ratings-adjusted
EBITDA margin of about 10%, generating positive FOCF, and
maintaining sufficient funds to assist its liquidity position."




=============
U K R A I N E
=============

INTERPIPE HOLDINGS: Fitch Rates Proposed Bond Issue 'B(EXP)'
------------------------------------------------------------
Fitch Ratings has assigned Interpipe Holdings plc's proposed bond
issue an expected 'B(EXP)' senior unsecured rating with a Recovery
Rating of 'RR4'. Fitch has simultaneously affirmed Interpipe's
Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'B' with Stable Outlook.

Fitch expects the planned notes to constitute the majority of
Interpipe's post-2020 capital structure, and rank senior to the
group's subordinated shareholder loan (end-2020: USD47 million).
The noteholders will benefit from upstream guarantees from
Interpipe's subsidiaries representing at least 80% of the group's
consolidated EBITDA. The notes' draft documentation contains an
incurrence net debt-to-EBITDA covenant of 2.0x and restricted
payments clauses that cap shareholder distributions.

Interpipe's Long-term IDR incorporates its smaller scale than
peers', exposure to the Ukrainian operating environment and
evolving financial policy. Its pipe business is partly exposed to
oil and gas markets where customers have volatile capex alongside
oil price fluctuations while the company has to expand the
geographic diversification of its wheels' sales following the
Russian ban on imports of Ukrainian wheels. These weaknesses are
counterbalanced by a high share of value-added steel products
(pipes and railway products) and Interpipe's leading domestic and
regional market position in seamless pipes and wheels. The group
benefits from integration into competitively priced scrap and
billets, and its sales are geographically diversified.

The assignment of the final ratings is contingent on receipt of
final documentation conforming materially to information already
received.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Bonds Driving Debt Turnaround: Fitch expects Interpipe's debt
quantum to rebase at USD300 million - USD350 million following the
expected bond placement, representing a structural capital
structure turnaround from an all-time minimum debt of around USD50
million reached at end-2020. Fitch expects the new bonds to form
the majority of the post-2020 capital structure, with the rest
being bilateral bank loan facilities. Fitch does not treat the
group's performance securities as debt as they are linked to cash
flow generation nor its subordinated USD47 million outstanding
shareholder loan.

Russian Wheels Import Ban: Russia, the market accounting for 23% of
Interpipe's wheels sales in 9M20, announced an import ban on
Ukrainian wheels in February 2021. This accelerated the
normalisation of Interpipe's wheels segment performance Fitch had
expected earlier. Interpipe's response plan includes re-focusing
onto other CIS as well as lower-priced European markets. Fitch
expects this to only partly mitigate the Russian market closure.

Fitch therefore lowered Fitch's estimates for the medium-term wheel
segment's EBITDA to USD50 million-USD60 million, versus USD80
million estimated previously.

Wheels Sales to Moderate: Fitch expects wheels sales volumes to
moderate to around 150kt - 160kt from 2021, with Interpipe's
geographical mix shifting away from CIS to non-CIS export markets
(mostly Europe), which Fitch expects to overtake the majority of
wheels shipments from 2021. Fitch estimates non-CIS shipments at
90kt - 100kt over the next three to four years, versus 77kt in
2020.

Diverging Trends in Pipe Volumes Recovery: Interpipe's oil country
tubular goods (OCTG) sales volumes more than halved in 2020 due to
a global downturn in oil & gas affecting domestic demand and
exports to the US. Fitch assumes a full recovery in OCTG to take
place no earlier than 2022, mostly driven by Middle East and CIS
markets. In contrast, seamless line pipes sales moderately grew in
2020 and are expected to stay roughly flat in 2021-2022.

Recovery in volumes and prices driven by capex initiatives in the
pipe segment should hasten the segment's EBITDA growth towards
USD80 million-USD90 million, exceeding the USD35 million-USD50
million pre-pandemic.

Capex Revised Up: Interpipe's capex will peak at USD80
million-USD90 million in 2021-2022, driven by a number of
initiatives including new pipe heat treatment equipment,
pipe-rolling mill modernisation and new OCTG finishing line for
casing. Wheels projects are aimed at expanding processing and
painting capacity as well as at wheelset assembly expansion.

Building Up Financial Record: Interpipe's prudent approach to capex
and record-high earnings have allowed debt repayment since the
group's restructuring in 2019. Following the new notes placement,
Fitch expects the group to gradually build up a record of newly
established financial policies, shaped by covenants and/or by
internally developed financial policies.

Barriers to Entry: Long-standing customer relationships and
time-consuming certification processes in various jurisdictions,
particularly in the wheels segment, provide barriers to entry.
These benefits however come with higher volume risk and longer
customer replacement periods, especially in export markets. It is
also partly exposed to volatile oil markets via the pipes division
and to Ukrainian and CIS economies especially via the wheels
business, which exacerbate market pressure during recessions,
commodity market volatility or escalating trade barriers.

Trade Restrictions Risk: Interpipe's exports exceed 70% of
revenues, exposing the group to tariffs and quotas. Pipes are more
exposed as proven by the recent 10% import duties introduced by
Saudi Arabia and Turkey in 2Q20, on top of the trading restrictions
imposed by Eurasian Customs Union, the EU, USA, Mexico and Brazil.
The risk of trade restrictions in wheels is primarily related to
the Eurasian Customs Union market where Interpipe faced Russia's
import ban following the anti-dumping duty.

Fees Excluded from Leverage: Interpipe's restructuring agreement as
of 25 October 2019 includes performance-sharing fees.
Performance-sharing fees apply once the notes and term loan are
fully discharged over three consecutive years, and now stand at 15%
of adjusted consolidated EBITDA. Interpipe's full redemption of
notes in 1Q21 is in line with Fitch's earlier expectations, and
triggers performance fees of around USD25 million-USD27 million per
year in 2022-2024, based on Fitch's USD170 million-USD180 million
post-2021 EBITDA assumption.

DERIVATION SUMMARY

Interpipe is a small producer with a strong position in niche and
consolidated segments such as steel pipes (top-10 globally) and
wheels (top five globally). Both segments, particularly wheels, are
higher value-added steel products characterised with barriers to
entry, long-standing customer relationships and certification
processes in various jurisdictions. However, the segments are also
exposed to high volume risk.

Interpipe's closest peer is PJSC Chelyabinsk Pipe Plant (BB-/RWN),
a Russian seamless and large diameter pipe (LDP) producer with
bigger scale, an incumbent position in Russia's steel pipes market,
and partial integration into billets. ChelPipe's lack of wheels
exposure is offset by diversification towards LDP with different
market dynamics.

Interpipe's EMEA steel peers also include Russia's PJSC Novolipetsk
Steel, PJSC Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works and PAO Severstal (all
BBB/Stable), EVRAZ plc (BB+/Stable) and ArcelorMittal S.A.
(BB+/Positive), which benefit from partial or full integration into
iron ore and/or coal, much bigger scale and, in the case of Russian
peers, global cost leadership in steel operations. They also have
lower volume risk but lack Interpipe's value-added product share
and higher barriers to entry compared with their more commoditised
markets.

Interpipe's post-restructuring leverage profile is very comfortable
but will change following the expected bond issue, placing it
between low-leveraged investment-grade Russian steel peers and
higher-leveraged peers in the 'BB' rating category. Fitch expects
Interpipe's margins to moderate and converge with ChelPipe's, but
remain below most steel peers', except for ArcelorMittal's, by
2022-2024.

KEY ASSUMPTIONS

Fitch's key assumptions within its rating case for the issuer
include:

-- Pipes volumes to recover towards 675kt by 2024 from around
    485kt p.a. in 2020;

-- Wheels volumes at around 150kt from 2021, down from 193kt in
    2020, following Russia's ban on imported wheels;

-- EBITDA to moderate towards USD190 million in 2021 and around
    USD170 million-USD180 million thereafter as wheels segment
    normalisation is partially offset by pipe segment rebound;

-- Performance-sharing fees to commence from 2022, constituting
    15% of two prior semi-annual EBITDA;

-- Capex to peak at 9%-10% of sales in 2021-2022 and average 5%
    in 2023-2024;

-- Shareholder distributions to commence at a USD230 million peak
    in 2021, moderating towards levels that are commensurate with
    the neutral post-dividend FCF by 2023-2024.

Key Recovery Analysis Assumptions

The recovery analysis assumes that Interpipe would be considered a
going concern (GC) in bankruptcy and that it would be reorganised
rather than liquidated.

Interpipe's GC EBITDA assumption of USD140 million is a combination
of a USD70 million EBITDA for the pipes segment, USD50 million for
the wheels segment and USD20 million for the steel segment.

The GC EBITDA estimate reflects Fitch's view of a sustainable,
post-reorganisation EBITDA level upon which Fitch bases the
enterprise valuation. The wheels segment EBITDA reflects its
vulnerability to trade restrictions at export destinations, as
shown by the recent Russian ban on Ukrainian wheel products. The
EBITDA estimate for pipes takes into account the 2020 oil-and-gas
market volatility both domestically and abroad, but assumes
company's investments into the segment including premium OCTG
products will place the segment's GC EBITDA above the 2020 level.

Fitch applies a enterprise value /EBITDA multiple of 4.0x to
reflect the structurally cash-generative business consisting of two
segments, but also reflecting the company's small scale and asset
base concentrated in Ukraine.

Interpipe's USD45 million bilateral secured bank facilities are
senior to planned senior unsecured notes.

After deducting 10% for administrative claims and taking into
account Fitch's Country-Specific Treatment of Recovery Ratings
Rating Criteria, Fitch's waterfall analysis generated a
waterfall-generated-recovery calculation (WGRC) for the proposed
unsecured bonds in the 'RR4' band, indicating an expected 'B(EXP)'
instrument rating. The WGRC output percentage on current metrics
and assumptions was 50%.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive
rating action/upgrade:

-- Record of a conservative financial policy and established
    corporate governance practices with FFO leverage sustained
    below 2.5x on a gross basis or 2.0x on a net basis;

-- Larger scale or increased diversification supporting
    resilience to commodities markets and/or economic slowdown;

-- The above factors may lead to an upgrade only if Ukraine's
    sovereign rating is upgraded or Interpipe's hard-currency debt
    service cover is above 1.0x on a 12-month rolling basis, as
    calculated in accordance with Fitch's Non-Financial Corporates
    Exceeding the Country Ceiling Rating Criteria.

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative
rating action/downgrade:

-- EBITDA margin sustained below 14% on adverse market
    developments and volume pressure;

-- FFO leverage sustained above 3.5x on a gross basis or above
    3.0x on a net basis.

BEST/WORST CASE RATING SCENARIO

International scale credit ratings of Non-Financial Corporate
issuers have a best-case rating upgrade scenario (defined as the
99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in a positive
direction) of three notches over a three-year rating horizon; and a
worst-case rating downgrade scenario (defined as the 99th
percentile of rating transitions, measured in a negative direction)
of four notches over three years. The complete span of best- and
worst-case scenario credit ratings for all rating categories ranges
from 'AAA' to 'D'. Best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings are
based on historical performance.

LIQUIDITY AND DEBT STRUCTURE

Strong Liquidity Post-Restructuring: Interpipe enters 2021 with
strong liquidity with a USD97 million cash buffer against USD6
million outstanding notes and USD45 million bilateral bank facility
due from 2023. Fitch forecasts liquidity to remain strong following
the notes issue. Fitch does not anticipate additional substantial
debt nor a drain on its cash position to materially below USD100
million from funding shareholder distributions. This is despite
Fitch's assumptions of post-dividend FCF remaining negative in 2021
and moving towards neutral levels by 2023-2024.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS

Unless otherwise disclosed in this section, the highest level of
ESG credit relevance is a score of 3. This means ESG issues are
credit neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity,
either due to their nature or the way in which they are being
managed by the entity.



===========================
U N I T E D   K I N G D O M
===========================

CPUK FINANCE: Fitch Rates Upcoming Class B6 Notes 'B(EXP)'
----------------------------------------------------------
Fitch Ratings has assigned CPUK Finance Ltd.'s (CPUK) upcoming
class B6 notes an expected rating of 'B(EXP)'. The Outlook is
Negative. The final rating is contingent upon the receipt of final
documentation conforming materially to the information already
received.

Fitch expects the existing class A and class B notes to be
unaffected by completion of the new issue.

CPUK is a securitisation of five holiday villages in the UK
operated by Center Parcs Limited (CP).

CPUK Finance Limited

         DEBT                            RATING
         ----                            ------
CPUK Finance Limited/Debt/3      LT  B(EXP)  Expected Rating

RATING RATIONALE

The class B6 notes' rating is at the same level as the existing
class B3, B4 and B5 notes as they share similar creditor-protective
features and reflect their pari passu ranking.

The rating considers CPUK's demonstrated ability in the
pre-pandemic period to maintain high and stable occupancy rates,
increase prices in excess of inflation, and ultimately deliver
strong financial performance. However, the ratings also factor in
CPUK's exposure to the UK holiday and leisure industry, which is
highly exposed to discretionary spending.

CPUK's trading performance has been negatively affected by a severe
demand shock related to the coronavirus pandemic. Nevertheless, the
medium-term leverage profile remains above Fitch's downgrade
sensitivities, suggesting only a temporary impairment in the credit
profile.

The extensive creditor-protective features embedded in the debt
structure support the class A notes' 'BBB' ratings, while the deep
subordination of the class B notes weighs negatively on their
ratings.

The Negative Outlook reflects significant uncertainty regarding
recovery from the pandemic, timing of the restrictions on public
gatherings and potential re-introduction of new restrictions as
well as the recovery path to pre-coronavirus EBITDA and leverage.

ISSUANCE SUMMARY

The transaction is a new issue of class B6 notes of up to GBP255
million due in 2051. The GBP250 million proceeds are expected to be
used to fully redeem the outstanding class B3 notes and GBP5
million is planned to be used to cover transaction costs and fees.

The class B6 notes' terms and conditions are equal to B5 notes
issued in September 2020. The class B6 and B5 notes' terms are
different from the rest of class B notes, notably with the absence
of financial covenant (free cash flow (FCF) debt service ratio
(DSCR)), which would trigger a share enforcement event at a ratio
of less than 1.0x. Fitch views these changes as credit negative,
but not sufficient to impact the class B6 notes' key rating drivers
(KRDs) or rating. Fitch will monitor any amendments to the
securitisation and notes that the accumulation of incremental
negative changes in the debt structure may ultimately result in a
reassessment of the KRDs and ratings.

Under Fitch's revised rating case, projected leverage and the
repayment profile is broadly unchanged for the class A and B notes
from the Fitch rating case (FRC) developed in September 2020.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Operating Environment Drives Assessment - Industry Profile:
'Weaker'

The UK holiday parks sector has both price and volume risks, which
makes the projection of long-term cash flows challenging. It is
highly exposed to discretionary spending and to some extent,
commodity and food prices. Events and weather risks are also
significant, with CP having been affected by a fire and minor
flooding in the past and the current coronavirus pandemic.

Fitch views the operating environment as a key driver of the
industry profile, resulting in its overall 'Weaker' assessment. In
terms of barriers to entry, the scarcity of suitable, large sites
near major conurbations is credit-positive for CPUK. The company's
offering is also exposed to changing consumer behaviour (e.g.
holidaying abroad or in alternative UK sites).

Sub-KRDs: Operating Environment: 'Weaker', Barriers to Entry:
''Midrange, Sustainability: 'Midrange'

Strong Performing Market Leader - Company Profile: 'Stronger'

Fitch views CP as a medium-sized operator with EBITDA of GBP200
million in the financial year to April 2020. It benefits from some
economies of scale. Revenue and EBITDA growth has been consistent
through the cycle. Growth has been driven by villa price increases,
bolstered by committed development funding to upgrade villa
amenities and increase capacity. CP's large repeating customer base
helps revenue stability, with around 50% of guests returning over
three years and 35% within 12 months. CP also benefits from a high
level of advanced bookings and constantly high occupancy rates of
97%-98% until 2019.

There are no direct competitors and the uniqueness of its offer
differentiates CP from camping and caravan options or overseas
weekend breaks. Management is generally stable, with the current
CEO having been in place since 2000 and no known
corporate-governance issues. The CP brand is fairly strong and the
company benefits from other brands operated on a concession basis
at its sites. As the business is largely self-operated, visibility
over underlying profitability is good. An increasing portion of
food and beverage revenues are derived from concession agreements,
but these are fully turnover-linked, thereby still giving some
visibility of the underlying performance.

CP is reliant on high capex to keep its offer current and remains a
well-invested business with around GBP780 million of capex since
2006 (around GBP475 million of investment/refurbishment capex).
Major accommodation upgrades were completed by end-2016. The
current capex plan involves ongoing lodge refurbishment.

Sub-KRDS: Financial Performance: 'Stronger', Company Operations:
'Stronger', Transparency: 'Stronger', Dependence On Operator:
'Midrange', Asset Quality: 'Stronger'

Cash Sweep Amortisation - Debt Structure - Class A: 'Stronger',
Class B - 'Weaker'

All principal is fully amortising via a cash sweep and the
amortisation profile under the FRC is commensurate with the
industry and company profile. The class A notes have an
interest-only period, but no concurrent amortisation with
subordinated debt. The class A notes also benefit from the payment
deferability of the junior-ranking class B notes. Additionally, the
notes are all fixed-rate, avoiding any floating-rate exposure and
swap liabilities.

The class B notes are sensitive to small changes in operating
stress assumptions and particularly vulnerable towards the tail end
of the transaction. This is because large amounts of accrued
interest may have to be repaid, assuming the class B notes are not
repaid at their expected maturity. The sensitivity stems from the
interruption in cash interest payments upon a breach of the class A
notes' cash-lockup covenant (at 1.35x FCF DSCR) or failure to
refinance any of the class A notes one year past expected
maturity.

The transaction benefits from a comprehensive whole business
securitisation (WBS) security package, including full
senior-ranking asset and share security available for the benefit
of the noteholders. Security is granted by way of fully fixed and
qualifying floating security under an issuer-borrower loan
structure. The class B noteholders benefit from a topco share
pledge structurally subordinated to the borrower group, and as such
would be able to sell the shares upon a class B event of default
(e.g. non-payment, failure to refinance or FCF DSCR under 1.0x).

The class B6 and B5 notes lack the FCF DSCR covenant, which means
that once the class B3 and class B4 notes are no longer
outstanding, the class B noteholders will only be able to enforce
their share pledge at the topco level if class B loan interest is
not paid when due (effectively the same mechanics as FCF DSCR of
1.0x) or if the notes are not refinanced/repaid by expected
maturity.

Nevertheless, as long as the class A notes are outstanding, only
the class A noteholders are entitled to direct the trustee with
regard to the enforcement of any borrower security (e.g. if the
class A notes cannot be refinanced one year after their expected
maturity). Additionally, the class B6 and B5 notes' new terms will
come into effect only after class B3 and B4 are repaid in full.

Fitch views the covenant package as slightly weaker than other
typical WBS deals. The financial covenants are only based on
interest cover ratios (ICR). Although documentation formally uses
DSCRs, they are effectively ICRs as there is no scheduled
amortisation of the notes. However, this is compensated by the cash
sweep feature. At GBP90 million, the liquidity facility is
appropriately sized, covering 18 months of the class A notes' peak
debt service. The class B notes do not benefit from any liquidity
enhancement but benefit from certain features while the class A
notes are outstanding, such as the operational covenants.

During the 2020 waiver period (until February 2022), the class B
notes benefit from additional liquidity availability. Proceeds of
up to GBP75 million raised via the class B notes issuance in excess
of any amounts utilised for refinancing may be available to make
payments on the class B notes without being subject to the class A
restricted payment conditions (including 1.35x class A FCF DSCR).
These funds are not exclusive to the class B notes and can be used
within securitisation for other purposes. Consequently, Fitch does
not view it as liquidity enhancement.

Sub-KRDs: Debt Profile: Class A - 'Stronger', Class B - 'Weaker';
Security Package: Class A - 'Stronger', Class B - 'Weaker';
Structural Features: Class A - 'Stronger', Class B - 'Weaker'

Financial Profile: The projected deleveraging profile under FRC
envisages class A and B full repayment by 2031 and 2038 and net
debt-to-EBITDA by 2024 at 3.9x and 6.8x, respectively. Projected
prepayment under the FRC is still quicker than at initial
transaction close in 2012.

PEER GROUP

Operationally, the most suitable WBS comparisons are WBS pubs, as
they share exposure to consumer discretionary spending. CP has
proven less cyclical than the leased pubs with strong performance
during previous major economic downturns. The coronavirus pandemic
has also demonstrated that CP has more control over its costs.

Due to the similarity in debt structure, the transaction can also
be compared with Arqiva. Arqiva's WBS notes are also rated 'BBB'
and envisage full repayment via cash sweep by 2030, similar to
CPUK's expected full class A repayment by 2031. The industry risk
KRD for Arqiva is assessed as 'Stronger' as it benefits from
long-term contractual revenues with strong counterparties, versus
the 'Weaker' assessment for CPUK. However, Arqiva's prepayment
timing is somewhat restricted by the expiry of these long-term
contracts.

Arqiva's junior high-yield debt is less comparable with CPUK's
class B due to the separate issuer and bullet maturity (which
introduces refinancing risk). While CPUK class B prepayment is
projected to be slightly later than Arqiva's class B notes, the
lesser degree of subordination and cash sweep feature of CPUK class
B notes justify the 'B' rating, which is one notch higher than
Arqiva's junior notes.

Roadster Finance DAC (Tank & Rast) is rated 'BBB-' with 5.9x net
debt/EBITDA on a five-year average basis, higher than CPUK's class
A leverage. T&R is not operationally similar to CP, but the soft
maturity with cash sweep financial structure is comparable. T&R's
legal structure aims to emulate the WBS framework, but Fitch views
it as weaker than the UK's administration receivership framework
utilised in WBS.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factor that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive
rating action/upgrade:

-- A quicker-than-assumed recovery from the pandemic-induced
    demand shock, supporting a sustained recovery in cash flows
    generation, which may lead to a revision of the Outlook to
    Stable.

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative
rating action/downgrade:

Class A notes:

-- Deterioration of the expected leverage profile with net debt
    to-EBITDA above 5.0x by 2024;

-- A full debt repayment of the notes beyond 2032 under the FRC.

Class B notes:

-- Deterioration of the expected leverage profile with net debt
    to-EBITDA above 8.0x by 2024;

-- A full debt repayment of the notes beyond 2039 under the FRC.

BEST/WORST CASE RATING SCENARIO

International scale credit ratings of Sovereigns, Public Finance
and Infrastructure issuers have a best-case rating upgrade scenario
(defined as the 99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in
a positive direction) of three notches over a three-year rating
horizon; and a worst-case rating downgrade scenario (defined as the
99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in a negative
direction) of three notches over three years. The complete span of
best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings for all rating
categories ranges from 'AAA' to 'D'. Best- and worst-case scenario
credit ratings are based on historical performance.

TRANSACTION SUMMARY

The transaction is secured by CP's holiday villages: Sherwood
Forest in Nottinghamshire, Longleat Forest in Wiltshire, Elveden
Forest in Suffolk, Whinfell Forest in Cumbria and Woburn Forest in
Bedfordshire. Each site has an average of 867 villas and is set in
a forest environment with extensive central leisure facilities.

CREDIT UPDATE

As a result of government-imposed lockdown measures to fight the
Covid-19 pandemic, CP closed its five UK holiday parks, with effect
from 20 March 2020 until 13 July 2020, from 5 November 2020 to 4
December 2020 and from 21 December 2020 to 11 April 2021 with
localised closures of Sherwood village from 30 October 2020 and
Woburn village from 18 December 2020 to 11 April 2021. These
closures have had a significant negative effect on the net earnings
and cash flows of CPUK in FY20 and FY21.

Revenue decreased 7.6% to GBP443.7 million in FY20 from GBP 480.2
million in FY19. This was driven by village closures and therefore
lower physical occupancy, down at 88% from 97.1%. EBITDA decreased
14% to GBP200 million from GBP232.6 million. Average daily rate
(ADR) was up 1.7%, while rent per available lodge night (RevPAL)
was down 7.8% due to lower capacity utilisation. Capex was down at
GBP53 million from GBP66 million, mainly driven by lower investment
and new-build capex. The 14-year revenue and EBITDA CAGRs to FY20
remain strong at 4.6% and 6.3%, respectively.

However, yoy performance during the 52 weeks ended 27 February 2020
(i.e. pre-lockdown) was strong and in line with the previous years.
Revenues were up 4.4%, EBITDA up 3.7%, physical occupancy at 97.1%,
ADR and RevPAL up 4.2% and 4.4%, respectively.

During the 36-week period ending 31 December 2020 (FY21 YTD)
compared with the 36-week period ended 2 January 2020 revenue
decreased 68% to GBP114.9 million from GBP360.2 million, EBITDA
fell to GBP11.6 million from GBP179.9 million and occupancy
decreased to 30.5% from 98%. This reflected the village closures
and restricted accommodation capacity during the periods that the
villages were open. The losses incurred during the village closures
were offset by profits when open. Occupancy of 60.6% was achieved
when the villages were open.

To mitigate the lockdown effect, management applied a range of
measures, such as furlough of staff, capex re-phasing and deferral
of VAT and other taxes.

In this context, CPUK received tangible support from its main
shareholder, Brookfield Asset Management, which approved GBP230
million of funding to be injected into CPUK via a combination of
equity and subordinated, interest-free shareholder loans. To date,
GBP190 million has already been injected into the structure. CP
villages reopened on 12 April 2021 with a reduction in
accommodation capacity and activities to ensure that
social-distancing guidelines are enforced.

FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

FRC

Under the FRC Fitch assumes significant revenue declines in
2021-2022 reflecting the closure of villages and continued
decreased occupancy level owing to weaker demand and social
distancing. Revenue will then progressively normalise and reach
2019 levels only by end-2023.

CP has some flexibility to partially offset the impact of the
expected significant revenue shortfall. In the FRC, Fitch assumes a
significant reduction in fixed costs to reflect period of decreased
occupancy, during which Fitch believes it was possible to
significantly reduce most components of operating expenditure.
Fitch also assumes some reduction in maintenance and investment
capex as it can be reduced to minimum covenanted levels. Fitch
believes it may be possible to reduce capex further as any capex
shortfall versus covenant could be made up later in the year.

Overall, the FRC results in largely similar repayment profile and
leverage compared with the last review in September 2020, due to a
minimal net debt increase, shareholder injections aimed at curing
pandemic-induced demand shock and structural features of the
securitisation.

Sensitivity Case

Fitch has also run a more severe sensitivity case that builds on
the FRC, and assumes the slower recovery path versus the revised
rating case, resulting in significant revenue reductions and
progressive recovery by end-2024. Mitigation measures are unchanged
compared with the FRC. The sensitivity shows some deterioration of
CPUK's credit profile. Under this scenario, projected deleveraging
envisages class A and B full repayment by 2031 and 2040 and net
debt-to-EBITDA by 2024 at 4.3x and 7.7x, respectively.

Solid Liquidity Position

CPUK has sufficient liquidity to cover at least 2021 needs. As of
end-March CPUK had GBP71 million in cash and liquidity facility
totaling GBP90 million available for senior fees and class A note
interest payments, while scheduled debt service after the class B6
notes placement is expected at around GBP100.2 million annually.
The closest expected maturity dates are in 2022 for the remaining
class B3 notes of GBP250 million and in 2024 for GBP440 million
class A2 notes and GBP250 million class B4 notes. Fitch believes
CPUK is has sufficient time to refinance outstanding notes well in
advance.

ESG CONSIDERATIONS

Unless otherwise disclosed in this section, the highest level of
ESG credit relevance is a score of '3'. This means ESG issues are
credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity,
either due to their nature or the way in which they are being
managed by the entity.

DEBENHAMS: Unex Group Acquires Ipswich Store
--------------------------------------------
BBC News reports that a town's prominent Debenhams building has
been sold.

The site in Ipswich's Cornhill has been bought by The Unex Group,
headed by property tycoon and racehorse owner William Gredley.

It is understood the four-storey building was sold for GBP3
million, as first reported in the Ipswich Star, but it is not yet
known how it will be developed, BBC notes.

Online fashion retailer Boohoo bought the Debenhams brand and
website in January but the GBP55 million deal meant the 118 High
Street stores would close, BBC recounts.

Ipswich's store is located at Waterloo House which had been on the
market for GBP5.5 million and was described as "prominent" by the
borough council leader David Ellesmere, BBC relates.

It was built in 1975 and Debenhams' tenancy agreement started on
August 8, 1977, according to the sale documents.

According to BBC, Ipswich Central chief executive Paul Clement said
the sale was one of the first since the Boohoo takeover.


LIBERTY PRESSING: MP Wants UK Gov't. to Step in to Rescue Business
------------------------------------------------------------------
CoventryObserver reports that Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana has
called for the government to "step-in now" to rescue city
manufacturer Liberty Pressing Solutions at risk after the collapse
of its main financial backer -- Greensill Capital.

Greensill -- the controversial lender advised by David Cameron --
collapsed into administration last month leaving thousands of jobs
in the balance, CoventryObserver recounts.

The company, based in Willenhall, is part of the Liberty Steel
Group, makes a wide range of body parts for major car makers,
including Jaguar Land Rover.

According to CoventryObserver, speaking in the House of Commons
during Treasury Departmental questions, Coventry South MP Zarah
Sultana, said: "The threat of the company's collapse risks losing
good, skilled, unionised jobs in Coventry and across the country.

"This would be a disaster for the city and British manufacturing."

Arguing that the government should take action before the company
goes bust, which would "risk workers' jobs and terms and
conditions", Ms. Sultana called on the government to "step-in now,
with all options on the table, including bringing the business into
public ownership".

This, she said, would "guarantee its future and retain the skills
we need to rebuild from the pandemic and tackle the climate
emergency."

In response to Ms. Sultana, the Treasury Minister Kemi Badenoch MP
replied: "It would not be appropriate to comment on individual
companies."

But he went on to say: "We are monitoring developments around
Liberty and continue to engage closely with the company, the
broader UK steel industry and trade unions."

Earlier this month Labour called on the ministers to intervene
before liquidation to save jobs, terms and conditions, and give
customers and supplies confidence orders will be fulfilled,
CoventryObserver discloses.


ST MICHAEL'S HOME: Goes Into Liquidation Amid Pandemic
------------------------------------------------------
Emily Roberts at Basingstoke Gazette reports that St Michael's Home
Care has gone into liquidation, with the hospice set to lose out on
funding it invested into the business.

The care provider was launched in 2015 by St Michael's Hospice
using a donation given specifically to set up a domiciliary care
agency, the funds of which would not have otherwise been made
available.

However, it appointed a voluntary liquidator on Jan. 13 this year
having struggled during the pandemic, and statements on Companies
House website show St Michael's Hospice listed as an unsecured
creditor, meaning it may not recover some of the debt it is owed,
Basingstoke Gazette relates.

The hospice, based in Aldermaston Road, is listed as being owed
GBP345,000 by the company, Basingstoke Gazette discloses.

However, the net loss was said to be GBP83,846, Basingstoke Gazette
notes.

According to Basingstoke Gazette, its preferential creditors
include HM Revenue and Customs, employee arrears and holiday pay,
and pension schemes, totalling GBP18,030.07.

St Michael's Hospice said the pandemic has severely impacted its
ability to fundraise, with all its events cancelled in 2020,
Basingstoke Gazette relays.  It was also impacted by the closure of
its charity shops for many months, Basingstoke Gazette states.


TRAVELPLANNERS: Halts Trading, To Undergo Liquidation
-----------------------------------------------------
Kimberley Barber at The News reports that Travelplanners, which had
branches in Wilton Place Southsea and in The Precinct
Waterlooville, posted the announcement to go into liquidation to
its website on April 19.

According to The News, it said: "It is with deep regret that the
directors of Travelplanners Southsea Limited, after 45 years of
trading as Travelplanners have taken the heart-breaking decision to
cease trading and go into liquidation.

"This is entirely due to the effects of the global pandemic which
has decimated the travel industry over the past two years.

"The matter is currently being dealt with by FRP Advisory Trading
Limited and any queries should be directed to 020 8302 4344."

The travel industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic
with blanket travel bans coming in to stop the spread of the virus,
The News notes.

WARD RECYCLING: Goes Into Liquidation Following GBP1MM+ Losses
--------------------------------------------------------------
TeesideLive reports that Ward Recycling, a Teesside recycling firm,
has gone into liquidation.

The company, which has facilities in both South Bank and
Hartlepool, went bust after reporting losses of more than GBP1
million, TeesideLive relates.

According to TeesideLive, an investigation was launched by the
Health and Safety Executive last year following an incident at the
company's Hartlepool plant, in which a man died.

Chris Petts & Richard Oddy of Grant Thornton UK LLP were appointed
as joint liquidators last month, TeesideLive discloses.




[*] UK: Scottish Enterprise Writes Off GBP131 Million
-----------------------------------------------------
John Glover at Insider.co.uk reports that economic development
agency Scottish Enterprise has written off GBP131 million of public
money during the past decade due to failed investments.

The public body has a remit from the government that enables it to
invest in the shares of businesses and provide them with loans or
grants.

According to Insider.co.uk, its annual accounts revealed the figure
for the period between April 2010 and March 2020, comprising those
shares, grants and loans which failed to achieve value.

The reports mention more than 750 cases, but only provides specific
information on incidents where the loss was greater than
GBP250,000, Insider.co.uk states.

Wave power companies Pelamis and Aquamarine Technology were the
single biggest losses made by the body, Insider.co.uk notes.  It
had to write off GBP16.3 million for Pelamis in 2014-2015, with
GBP15.2 million being written off the following year for Aquamarine
Technology, Insider.co.uk recounts.

The companies were expected to help speed up the nation's move to
renewable energy.  However, they both went into liquidation after
running out of cash and failed to prove the technology was
commercially viable, Insider.co.uk relays.

The third largest sum went to Fife shop fitter and commercial
furniture maker Havelock Europa, which went bust in 2019 losing
GBP3.2 million, Insider.co.uk states.

Scottish Enterprise also reported a GBP2.7 million loss in its 2020
accounts for Edinburgh-based software developer NetThings, which
went into administration towards the end of 2018, according to
Insider.co.uk.

Other notable investments it made losses on were Burntisland
Fabrication (BiFab), in which it cancelled the debt for GBP1.45
million in 2019, Insider.co.uk relates.

BiFab, which had steel fabrication yards in Fife and the Isle of
Lewis, went under last year after failing to secure any new
contracts to build offshore platforms for wind turbines,
Insider.co.uk notes.

Elsewhere, Scottish Enterprise lost GBP1.5 million on its
investment on Inside Biometrics, which went into administration and
was dissolved in 2019, Insider.co.uk discloses.

The body lost GBP2.4 million in 2017 on an investment into Aberdeen
based Gas2, which spent 10 years developing gas to liquid
technology to be used in gas fields, Insider.co.uk relays.
However, the slump in oil price meant the company was unable to
raise further funds and went into liquidation, Insider.co.uk
discloses.

Another high-profile write-off was the GBP1 million invested in
social networking website Talent Nation, launched in 2009 by former
Scottish Sun editor Steve Sampson, which attracted Celtic
midfielder Scott Brown and ex-Rangers striker Kenny Miller as
investors, Insider.co.uk recounts.

It went into liquidation in 2011, following the Scottish Enterprise
taking the company to court over unpaid payments to Olympian Brian
Whittle, according to Insider.co.uk.



                           *********


S U B S C R I P T I O N   I N F O R M A T I O N

Troubled Company Reporter-Europe is a daily newsletter co-
published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Fairless Hills,
Pennsylvania, USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, D.C., USA.
Marites O. Claro, Rousel Elaine T. Fernandez, Joy A. Agravante,
Julie Anne L. Toledo, Ivy B. Magdadaro, and Peter A. Chapman,
Editors.

Copyright 2021.  All rights reserved.  ISSN 1529-2754.

This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, resale or
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written permission of the publishers.

Information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to
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members of the same firm for the term of the initial subscription
or balance thereof are US$25 each.  For subscription information,
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