Fitch puts Wintershall on negative watch

Fitch Ratings said it placed Wintershall Dea AG's BBB long-term issuer default rating and its instrument ratings on rating watch negative.

The RWP follows an announcement that Wintershall Dea's upstream assets will be bought by Harbour Energy plc and that Harbour will assume its senior unsecured and subordinated bonds.

“Post-acquisition, Wintershall Dea's assets portfolio will be substantially reduced and will be represented by upstream assets in Russia (which have effectively been expropriated by Russia), upstream assets in the UAE (which are in the development stage), and some other assets. The RWN on the IDR reflects our expectation that its business profile will become extremely weak as a result of the sale,” Fitch said in a press release.

Since the deal is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024, resolving the RWN may take longer than the typical six months, the agency said.

The deal is subject to Harbour shareholder, regulatory approvals and other conditions.

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