Moody’s gives GrafTech’s notes B1

Moody’s Investors Service said it assigned a B1 rating to GrafTech Finance Inc.’s proposed $500 million of senior secured notes. Concurrently, Moody’s changed the outlook to positive from stable and affirmed the company’s B1 corporate family rating, B1-PD probability of default rating and the B1 rating on its senior secured credit facilities, including its $250 million senior secured revolving credit facility and $1.6 billion senior secured term loan. GrafTech’s speculative grade liquidity rating of SGL-1 remains unchanged.

“The senior secured note rating is commensurate with the corporate family rating and the senior secured credit facilities rating since the revolver, term loan and the secured notes will share in the same collateral package and will account for virtually all of the debt in the company’s capital structure,” Moody’s said in a press release.

The proceeds will be used to pay down term loan debt.

“The change in GrafTech’s outlook to positive reflects its historically strong operating performance during the recent steel sector downturn, its shift to a more balanced capital allocation strategy and the continued reduction in Brookfield’s ownership position,” said Michael Corelli, a Moody’s senior vice president and lead analyst for GrafTech Finance, in a press release.

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