Moody’s rates Linxens CFR B2; loans B1, Caa1

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a B2 corporate family rating and B2-PD probability of default rating to Financiere Lully C (Linxens).

Concurrently, the agency assigned a provisional B1 instrument rating to the $500 million equivalent first-lien term B-1 loan, €230 million equivalent first-lien term B-2 loan and €100 million revolving credit facility raised by Lux Finco and US SPV, and a provisional Caa1 instrument rating to the $256 million equivalent second-lien term loan raised by the borrowers.

The outlook is stable.

On June 26, funds advised and managed by CVC Capital Partners signed a put agreement to acquire Linxens Holding SAS from its previous private equity shareholder, Astorg Partners, through Financiere Lully C. The acquisition consideration and transaction fees will be funded by first-lien term loans of €680 million equivalent (based on a euro/dollar exchange rate of 1.12) and a €230 million equivalent second-lien term loan. In addition, a new revolver will be put in place to fund general corporate purposes.

"The B2 CFR reflects (1) Linxens' dominant position in the global niche market of flexible connectors for smartcards with a resilient market share, (2) the favorable underlying growth prospects for the banking segment driven, in particular, by the ongoing roll-out of payment smartcards in the U.S. and China, and (3) the significant free cash flow (FCF) generation based on relatively limited working capital and capex needs," Sebastien Cieniewski, Moody's lead analyst for Linxens, said in a news release.

© 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.