Moody's upgrades Winds Tre

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded the corporate family rating of Wind Tre SpA, formerly Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA, to B1 from B2 and probability of default rating to B1-PD from B2-PD.

The agency said it upgraded to B3 from Caa1 the rating on the senior unsecured notes issued by Wind Acquisition Finance SA and affirmed the Ba3 ratings on the senior secured notes issued by Wind Acquisition Finance, as well as the Ba3 senior secured term loan and bank credit facility of Wind Tre.

The outlook is positive.

The upgrades follow the completion of the merger between Wind Telecomunicazioni and H3G SpA, the Italian operations of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd., Moody's said, and the amendment in the documentation of the H3G's shareholder loans in December 2016.

The upgrade reflects the improvement in Wind Tre's credit profile owing to its increase in scale and market share, the substantial synergies to be achieved through the integration of Wind and H3G and the significant reduction in the group's leverage, the agency said.

The positive outlook reflects an expectation for further de-leveraging given the company's long-term net leverage target of less than 3x, Moody's added.

However, the entry of Iliad in the Italian market may delay this improvement, the agency said.

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