S&P gives Endurance Specialty preferreds BBB-

Standard & Poor's said it assigned its BBB- preferred stock rating to Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd.'s proposed series C perpetual noncumulative preferred stock issuance.

The company expects to use the net proceeds plus available cash to redeem all of the shares of its $200 million series A noncumulative preferred shares, largely due to economic incentives related to an expected lower coupon rate for the series C compared to the current 7.75% coupon rate for series A. As a result of the repayment of the series A preferred shares, the agency doesn't expect any material change in the group's financial leverage from the issuance of the series C shares.

The proposed series C shares have no maturity date, are noncumulative, and are eligible for intermediate equity credit according to S&P’s hybrid criteria.

The new issuance will have a similar structure – and rank equally with – the company's existing $230 million, 7.5% perpetual noncumulative preferred securities issued in 2011 (series B).

© 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.