S&P: News America notes BBB+

Standard & Poor's said it assigned a BBB+ rating to News America Inc.'s proposed $1 billion 10-year unsecured notes.

The company has earmarked proceeds for general corporate purposes, which could include recent acquisitions and costs associated with a spin-off, S&P said.

News America is a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp., which guaranteed the issues.

The new rating is on CreditWatch with negative implications, as is News's BBB+ corporate credit rating. The ratings were placed on negative watch in July in relation to investigations in the United Kingdom and United States regarding phone-hacking and bribery allegations, S&P said, and steps the company is taking to address identified governance and operating control deficiencies.

The agency said it expects to resolve the CreditWatch soon and believes downgrade potential is limited to one notch.

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