S&P rates new Avast debt BB-

S&P said it affirmed the BB- long-term corporate credit rating on Avast Holding BV and financing subsidiary Avast Software.

The outlook is stable.

The agency also said it affirmed the rating on the existing senior secured debt issued by Avast Software and expects to withdraw the ratings following the redemption at the closing of the transaction.

S&P also said it assigned a BB- rating on the proposed $1.685 million senior secured debt to be issued by Avast Software.

All of the ratings were removed from CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed July 12, the agency said.

The affirmation follows a review of Avast's business plan and financial policy after its announced acquisition of AVG Technologies for a total consideration of $1.3 billion, S&P said.

The integration risks and expected increase in leverage to between 4.5x to 5x at closing are offset by the company's increased scale, significant cost synergy potential and strong ability to de-leverage quickly to less than 4x in 2018 thanks to is solid free operating cash flow generation and high EBITDA growth, the agency said.

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