Fitch affirms TV Azteca on debt repayment

Fitch Ratings said it affirmed TV Azteca, SAB de CV's long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings at B+ and removed them from Rating Watch negative.

Fitch also said it affirmed the B+ rating with recovery rating of RR4 on the company's senior unsecured notes due 2024.

The outlook is stable.

The ratings and removal of the negative watch reflect the agreement reached between TV Azteca and the Mexican subsidiary of American Tower Corp., which prevented a cross-default clause activation under the company's bond indenture documentation, Fitch said.

During the third quarter of 2018, TV Azteca signed an agreement to pay $59.5 million in cash to extinguish its existing loan agreement with American Tower, the agency said.

The remaining $39 million in debt is amortized through American Tower's use of available space on TV Azteca's transmission towers in Mexico.

The TV Azteca's ratings reflect the company's second largest market position in the Mexican broadcasting industry and its solid content production, Fitch said.

The ratings are tempered by its volatile operating results and inability to maintain a steady financial profile due to past investments in telecom operations in Colombia and Peru, the agency said.

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