S&P rates Qwest Services loan

Standard & Poor's said it assigned its B- rating to Qwest Services Corp.'s $1.75 billion senior secured bank loan, consisting of a $750 million revolving credit and a $1 billion term loan. A recovery rating of 2 also was assigned to the loan.

The outstanding ratings on Qwest, including the B- corporate credit rating, were affirmed.

The outlook is developing.

S&P said the ratings on Qwest reflect the high degree of risk that continues to surround the diversified telecommunications carrier due to the ongoing criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, a separate investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, a General Services Administration investigation, and various shareholder lawsuits.

S&P said these issues are the factors behind the below-average business risk, since they outweigh the core incumbent local exchange carrier's fundamentally sound business. The company may also face some potentially significant shortfalls in the funding of its pensions and other post-retirement benefits.

© 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.