S&P ups Linn Energy, rates Berry BB-

Standard & Poor's said it removed the ratings on Linn Energy LLC and Berry Petroleum Co. from CreditWatch where it placed them with positive implications on Feb. 22, 2013, following Linn's announcement that it would acquire Berry in an all-stock transaction.

The agency is raising the corporate credit rating on Linn Energy LLC to BB- from B+ and raised the senior unsecured ratings to B+ from B, maintaining a 5 recovery rating indicating modest (10% to 30%) recovery in the event of a payment default.

The outlook is stable.

At the same time, S&P assigned its BB- corporate credit rating to newly created, wholly owned, unrestricted subsidiary Berry Petroleum Co. LLC.

Finally, the agency affirmed the BB- corporate credit and senior unsecured ratings on Berry Petroleum Co. and subsequently withdrew the corporate credit rating on Berry Petroleum Co., which was converted to Berry Petroleum Co. LLC.

S&P said the ratings on Linn Energy LLC reflect what it considers to be a "fair" business risk, "aggressive" financial risk and "adequate" liquidity assessments.

© 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.