Moody's affirms Windstream, may lift Gabriel

Moody's Investors Service said it affirmed Windstream Corp.'s Ba2 corporate family and probability of default ratings and placed the ratings of Gabriel Communications Finance Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of NuVox, Inc., on review for possible upgrade.

The rating action was prompted by Windstream's announced plans to acquire Nuvox for a total purchase price of $643 million, consisting of about $280 million in cash, $183 million in Windstream stock and the assumption of $180 million net of cash of Nuvox's outstanding debt, the agency said.

Windstream expects to close the acquisition in the first half of 2010, according to Moody's, which added that the transaction values NuVox at about 5.6 times its trailing EBITDA of $115 million, before synergies.

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