NTLM Message parse Error

My Authentication endpoint returns an NTLM Message header like this:

"WWW-Authenticate: NTLM TlRMTVNTUAACAAAABgAGADgAAAAF.....QByAGcALgBkAGUABwAIAMG9LHviQtYBAAAAAA=="

Upon reading this header with AuthChallengeParser hc parses this field using the code in line 70:

if (!cursor.atEnd() && buffer.charAt(cursor.getPos()) == EQUAL_CHAR) {
                cursor.updatePos(cursor.getPos() + 1);
                final String value = tokenParser.parseValue(buffer, cursor, DELIMITER);
                return new BasicNameValuePair(token, value);
}

When reading the first "=" char of the message, it interprets the value as a key-value pair. The first part of the NTLM message being the key and the second "=" the value. Later an AuthChallenge is later created with

new AuthChallenge(challengeType, schemeName, null, params.size() > 0 ? params : null);

where value is null and params a list containing the NTLM message without the equals signs.

Without the "==" the next auth step fails.