Mutares Clears Its Biggest Hurdle: Bond Covenants Back in Compliance as Record SABIC Deal Closes
Published on 08/05/2026 at 16:02 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
For months, the overhang on Mutares' equity was less about earnings power and more about fine print. That shadow has now lifted. The Munich-based holding company confirmed on August 4 that it is fully compliant with all financial covenants tied to its Nordic Bonds 2023/2027 and 2024/2029 as of the June 30 measurement date — a relief for bondholders who had been tracking the group's leverage metrics with unusual care.
The all-clear arrives alongside a busy operational stretch that includes the most consequential acquisition in the company's history and a portfolio reshuffle running on multiple fronts simultaneously.
A Half-Year of Contrasts
The headline numbers for the first six months of 2026 tell a story of top-line resilience meeting bottom-line pressure. Revenue advanced 9 percent to €3.4 billion, up from €3.1 billion in the prior-year period. Reported group EBITDA, however, came in at €349 million — a steep drop from the €598 million posted a year earlier, a decline Mutares attributes to effects tied to ongoing transactions.
The adjusted net result painted an even starker picture: just €6 million versus €70 million in the first half of 2025. Consulting revenues held up reasonably well at €49 million, landing within the company's planning range.
Yet there is a counter-narrative buried in the adjusted figures. On an adjusted EBITDA basis, the group swung from minus €89 million to plus €67 million — a turnaround that management has been steering toward for several quarters and one that lends credibility to the full-year guidance the company reaffirmed alongside the results.
The SABIC Centerpiece
The dominant event of the half-year was the signing in January and completion in early August of the acquisition of SABIC's Engineering Thermoplastics business. The purchase, valued at $450 million on an enterprise basis, dwarfs anything Mutares has previously taken on. The unit, which generates roughly €2 billion in annual sales and employs about 2,800 people, now operates as NexPoint Materials and forms the anchor of a newly created Chemicals & Materials segment.
For a company whose model has traditionally revolved around restructuring and flipping industrial units, the scale of this transaction represents a deliberate strategic departure. Management intends for the new segment to function as a standalone platform for further expansion rather than a one-off portfolio addition.
Portfolio Activity Beyond the Headline Deal
The SABIC acquisition was far from the only moving part. Late July saw the divestment of Walor Precision Turning, a business with roughly €55 million in revenue, to investor Reed Capital. Around the same period, Mutares took over Free2move, the car-sharing operation of the Stellantis group, according to Reuters — though the purchase price was not disclosed.
Two further milestones are penciled in for the third quarter: the anticipated completion of the Synthomer business-area acquisitions and the planned closing of the NEM Energy Group sale to Hyundai.
Debt Management and the Bondholder Angle
The covenant confirmation was not the only creditor-friendly development of the summer. In early June, Mutares repurchased roughly €18 million in nominal value of its own 2023/2027 bonds, a move aimed at trimming holding-level debt. Together, these steps signal that management is attentive to the balance sheet even as it pursues its most ambitious acquisition to date.
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A Market That Isn't Leaping
For all the operational activity, the share price has remained conspicuously subdued. The stock closed Tuesday at €26.90, up a marginal 0.19 percent, and sits roughly a quarter below its 52-week high of €35.15 reached in January. The 50-day moving average of €27.89 hovers just above the current price — a technical signal that short-term momentum remains tepid.
The stock's year-to-date decline stands at approximately 9.8 percent, with the shares trading around €27.05 in recent sessions. Cantor Fitzgerald, for its part, reaffirmed an "Overweight" rating with a €48.00 price target in late July — a bullish stance that underscores the gap between analyst conviction and broader market skepticism.
What's Next
Shareholders approved a dividend of €2.00 per share for fiscal 2025 at the annual general meeting in early July. A minor insider transaction — supervisory board member Kristian Schleede sold shares worth €113,169 at an average price of €29.20 in late June — has drawn little attention given its modest size.
The next inflection point is the earnings call on August 18, where management is expected to address how quickly the signed and ongoing exit transactions will translate into net income for the full year. The company's guidance calls for group revenue between €7.9 billion and €9.1 billion and a holding-level net profit of €165 million to €200 million for 2026 — targets that now hinge less on operational execution and more on the timing of disposals in the second half.
