Moody’s gives AI Robin facilities B2

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a provisional B3 corporate family rating to AI Robin Ltd. (group), an intermediate holding company of the merged group following Brammer Ltd.’s proposed acquisition of French IPH SAS.

Concurrently, the agency assigned provisional B2 ratings to the proposed €765 million senior secured first-lien term loan B maturing 2024 and €135 million equivalent senior secured revolving credit facility maturing 2023 to be raised by AI Robin Finco Ltd., a direct subsidiary of the group.

The outlook is stable.

The new financing, which also comprises a €187 million second-lien term loan (unrated), in combination with common equity and £140 million of preferred equity, will be used to fund the acquisition of IPH from PAI Partners by funds advised by Advent International (Advent), as well as to refinance existing debt at Brammer.

"The assigned (P)B3 CFR with a stable outlook balances the group's very high initial leverage pro forma for the proposed acquisition of IPH, its moderate geographic diversity and execution risk as to initiated cost reduction measures, with its leading position as the number one industrial parts distributer in Europe, expected earnings improvements thanks to merger related synergies and positive free cash flow generation," Goetz Grossmann, Moody's lead analyst for Brammer/IPH, said in a news release.

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