Moody’s might raise Unitymedia

Moody's Investors Service said it placed Unitymedia GmbH’s (UM) B1 corporate family rating, B1-PD probability of default rating and B3 senior unsecured debt ratings under review for upgrade.

The agency also placed the Ba3 senior secured debt ratings at 100% owned subsidiaries, Unitymedia Finance LLC and Unitymedia Hessen GmbH & Co. KG, under review for upgrade.

Moody’s said the review follows the announcement by Liberty Global plc (Ba3 stable), parent of Unitymedia, regarding the proposed disposal of Unitymedia, and the Central and Eastern European assets of Liberty's subsidiary, UPC Holding BV (Ba3, negative) to Vodafone Group plc for a combined enterprise value of €18.4 billion at an EV/adjusted segment operating cash flow (OCF) multiple of around 11.5 times on an EU-IFRS basis.

"We are placing UM's ratings on review for upgrade because, if the disposal concludes as planned, UM will become part of Vodafone, a larger integrated telecoms group. In addition, part of its existing debt is expected to be repaid, leading to a reduction in UM's leverage," Gunjan Dixit, Moody's vice president, senior credit officer and lead analyst for Unitymedia, said in a news release.

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