Moody's affirms UIL

Moody's Investors Service said it affirmed the ratings and stable outlooks of UIL Holdings Corp. (Baa3 issuer rating) and its subsidiary, the United Illuminating Co. (Baa2 senior unsecured).

The affirmation of these ratings and stable outlooks follows the announcement that UIL entered into a definitive agreement with Iberdrola USA (Baa3 unsecured bank revolver rating; stable outlook), a subsidiary of Iberdrola SA (A3 senior unsecured; stable outlook) to acquire Southern Connecticut Gas Co. (Baa2 issuer rating; stable outlook), Connecticut Natural Gas Co. (Baa1 senior unsecured; stable outlook), and Berkshire Gas Co. (Baa2 issuer rating; stable outlook), the agency noted.

The cash purchase price is $1.296 billion, including the assumption of about $411 million of net debt, Moody's said.

"The affirmation of ratings considers the anticipated use of a reasonably conservative mix of debt and common equity by UIL to fund the purchase," said Kevin Rose, vice president of Moody's.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.