Fitch applies A- to Southern notes

Fitch Ratings said it assigned an A- rating to Southern Co.’s $300 million series 2017A floating-rate senior notes due Sept. 30, 2020.

Net proceeds will be used to repay short-term debt, which was about $1 billion as of June 14, and for other general corporate purposes, including investment by the company in its subsidiaries.

Fitch placed Southern’s A- long-term issuer default rating on Rating Watch Negative on March 30 following the announcement that Westinghouse Electric Co. and certain of its affiliates filed for Chapter 11 under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Westinghouse’s bankruptcy filing places the fixed-price EPC contact for the construction of Georgia Power Co.’s Vogtle 3 and 4 units in jeopardy. Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern and accounted for approximately 47% of consolidated 2016 EBITDA.

Fitch said it expects to resolve the negative watch for Georgia Power, and concurrently for Southern, upon receiving clarity on the future path for the Vogtle 3 and 4 units including the regulatory construct under which either the construction of one or both the units will proceed or the two units will be abandoned.

© 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.