Moody's rates Cricket notes Ba2

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a Ba2 rating (LGD2, 15%) to Cricket Communications Inc.'s $1.1 billion senior secured notes due 2016. Cricket is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leap Wireless International, Inc.

The B2 corporate family and probability-of-default ratings and SGL1 liquidity rating were affirmed, as were the B3 rating on Cricket's senior unsecured notes and the Caa1 rating on Leap's convertible notes.

Proceeds will be used to refinance the existing senior secured credit facilities at Cricket and enhance the company's cash balances. A

The B2 corporate family rating considers expectations that Leap's rapid growth plans will consume a significant amount of cash over the next few years as it seeks to build out wireless networks and launch service in several additional markets, according to the agency.

Ratings also consider that Leap faces significant execution risks in building out new markets amid intensifying industry competition, the agency noted.

Leap's adjusted debt-to-EBITDA leverage stood above 6x as of the first quarter and is expected to drop below 6x by year-end 2009.

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