S&P: Bloomin' Brands loan BB+

Standard & Poor's said it assigned a BB+ rating to Bloomin' Brands Inc.'s new $600 million credit facility, which consists of a $400 million revolving credit facility and a $200 million term loan A.

The recovery rating is 1, indicating 90% to 100% expected default recovery.

S&P also said it affirmed the BB- corporate credit rating on Bloomin' Brands and operating subsidiary OSI Restaurant Partners LLC, along with the BB+ rating on its existing term loan B.

The outlook remains positive.

The proceeds will be used to pay down $400 million of the existing term loan B and pay the related fees and expenses associated with the transaction, S&P said

The ratings also consider an expectation that operating performance trend will remain good in the next 12 months with positive same-store sales and unit expansion, the agency said.

Brand-revitalization initiatives and cost savings from productivity improvements will contribute to further modest margin expansion in 2014 and 2015, despite commodity cost pressure and still-weak discretionary consumer spending, S&P said.

Debt leverage is expected to decline to the low-3x range in 2014 and further improve to about 3x in 2015, the agency said.

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