Fitch rates Nielsen notes CCC

Fitch Ratings said it assigned a CCC/RR6 rating to Nielsen Finance LLC and Nielsen Finance Co.'s senior unsecured eight-year note offering. Both are indirect wholly owned subsidiaries of Nielsen Company, BV, which has B issuer default and short-term issuer default ratings and a CC/RR6 senior unsecured note rating.

The Nielsen Finance companies have B issuer default and short-term issuer default ratings, their senior secured bank facility is rated BB-/RR2, their senior unsecured notes are rated CCC/RR6, and their senior subordinated notes are rated CC/RR6.

All of the ratings, including the newly assigned notes, are on Rating Watch positive.

The proceeds of the offering are expected to be used to repay a portion of Nielsen Finance's $869 million senior unsecured notes due 2014.

The Rating Watch positive reflects the company's intention to dedicate $1.7 billion of the proceeds of its proposed $2 billion initial public offering toward debt reduction. Fitch believes the IPO will result in gross unadjusted leverage in the mid-5 times range, compared with more than 6.5 times at June 30.

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