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Default, Transition, and Recovery: Two U.S. Media Defaults This Week Bring The 2021 Corporate Tally To Six

Global corporate defaults in 2021 rise to six, with two defaults from the U.S. media and entertainment this week including:

  • Missouri-based theatrical exhibition company AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., and
  • Minnesota-based marketing company The IMAGINE Group LLC.

So far in 2021, all six defaults have been from distressed exchanges, continuing the trend of the final quarter of 2020. Five of the six issuers were rated in the 'CCC' rating category after completing a distressed exchange transaction, reflecting our view of these issuers' challenge of ongoing and significant revenue challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, there were 31 defaults in the media and entertainment sector, the third highest among sectors. So far in 2021, the sector leads the default tally with three--two from the U.S. and one from Europe. Even with a broadly available vaccine, lingering consumer fears about returning to large public events will delay any return to normal or permanently alter sector dynamics. Recovery in the sector depends on the availability of the vaccine (see "Industry Top Trends 2021 Media and Entertainment: Sector Under Pressure From Secular Trends And Pandemic Fallout," Dec. 10, 2020).

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Table 1

U.S. Leads 2021 Corporate Default Tally, With Three
Region 12-month-trailing speculative-grade default rate (%) 2021 2020 2019 Weakest links
U.S. 6.6 3 146 78 338
Emerging market 3.1 0 28 22 35
Europe 5.3 1 42 15 85
Other developed 5.9 0 10 3 24
Global 5.5 4 226 118 482
Trailing-12-month default rates from Dec. 31, 2019 - Dec. 31, 2020, are preliminary and subject to change. Year-to-date data as of Jan. 20, 2021. Weakest link data is as of Dec. 28, 2020. Other developed region includes Australia, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand. Default counts may include confidentially rated issuers. Sources: S&P Global Ratings Research and S&P Global Market Intelligence’s CreditPro®.

Table 2

The 2021 Global Corporate Default Tally At Six
Date Parent company Country Subsector To From Reason
5-Jan-2021

HGIM Corp.

U.S. Oil and gas SD CC Distressed exchange
6-Jan-2021

Promotora de Informaciones S.A.

Spain Media and entertainment SD CC Distressed exchange
8-Jan-2021

Burger BossCo Intermediate Inc.,

U.S. Retail/restaurants SD CCC Distressed exchange
8-Jan-2021

Riverbed Parent Inc.,

U.S. High technology SD CC Distressed exchange
1/21/2021

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.

U.S. Media and entertainment SD CC Distressed exchange
1/27/2021

Imagine Group LLC (The)

U.S. Media and entertainment D CCC Distressed exchange
Data as of Jan. 20, 2021. SD--Selective default. Sources: S&P Global Ratings Research and S&P Global Market Intelligence’s CreditPro®.

Related Research

Default Studies

More analysis and statistics are available in our annual default studies, published on RatingsDirect:

Corporate (financial and nonfinancial)
Structured finance
U.S. public finance
Sovereign and international public finance

This report does not constitute a rating action.

Credit Markets Research:Nicole Serino, New York + 1 (212) 438 1396;
nicole.serino@spglobal.com
Sudeep K Kesh, New York (1) 212-438-7982;
sudeep.kesh@spglobal.com
Research Contributor:Lyndon Fernandes, CRISIL Global Analytical Center, an S&P affiliate, Mumbai

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