Moody's assigns Nielsen B3, notes B2

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned Neptune Bidco US Inc. (Nielsen) a B3 corporate family rating, a B3-PD probability of default rating and a B2 rating to the planned $1.96 billion senior secured notes. The rating outlook is stable.

A consortium of Evergreen Coast Capital Corp., an affiliate of Elliott Investment Management LP, and Brookfield Business Partners LP, together with several institutional partners took the company private in a $16 billion leveraged buyout, which included the assumption of debt.

The B3 rating reflects the company’s high leverage in the 7.6x area (Moody's adjusted, applying total company EBITDA) or 8.1x (Moody's adjusted, applying EBITDA associated with the restricted group's US assets collateralizing the senior secured debt instruments), the negative free cash flow forecasted for the next 12-18 months due to interest expense and an expectation for minimal deleveraging over the next two years due to modest EBITDA growth, the agency noted.

The proceeds will be used to refinance the unrated $1.956 billion 6.5 year senior secured bridge facility.

© 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.