S&P rates CKE loans BB-, notes B

Standard & Poor's said the BB- corporate credit rating on CKE Restaurants Inc. remains on CreditWatch, where it was placed with negative implications on Feb. 26.

If the proposed acquisition by Apollo is approved by shareholders and completed, the agency said it expects to lower the corporate credit rating to B from BB-.

To finance the transaction, CKE is issuing a $100 million senior secured first-lien revolving credit facility and $600 million of senior secured second-lien notes. The agency said it is assigning a BB- rating to the senior secured credit facility with 1 recovery rating and a B rating to the second-lien notes with a 4 recovery rating.

"The rating on CKE Restaurants Inc. reflects its participation in the highly competitive quick service restaurant industry and a capital structure that will be highly leveraged after the transaction is completed," S&P analyst Charles Pinson-Rose said in a statement.

The transaction and proposed capital structure will add more than $300 million of debt and operating lease-adjusted debt-to-EBITDA ratio will increase to 5.6x on a pro-forma basis from 4.0x at end of fiscal 2010.

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