Moody's lowers Hi-Crush view to negative

Moody's Investors Service said it affirmed Hi-Crush Partners LP's corporate family rating at B2, probability of default rating at B2-PD and B3 rating on the company's existing senior unsecured notes.

Moody's also said it downgraded Hi-Crush's speculative grade liquidity rating to SGL-3 from SGL-2.

The outlook also was changed to negative from stable.

The ratings reflect the company's high leverage, limited scale, earnings volatility and risks associated with the volatile oil and gas industry, Moody's said.

Despite recent improvement in the price of oil, mine closures and production cuts, the agency said it does not expect any significant price recovery as many miners have committed to higher volumes at lower prices.

S&P lowers Altice view to negative

S&P said it revised the outlook on Altice Europe NV and its subsidiaries Altice Luxembourg SA, Altice France SA and Altice International Sarl to negative from stable.

The agency also said it affirmed the Altice France's B ratings.

Altice Europe's attempt to cut debt and turn around operations at its subsidiaries will hinge on the group improving its customer mix and monetizing heavy committed content costs in order to restore EBITDA growth, S&P explained.

The agency said it forecasts another year of negative free operating cash flow of about €300 million in 2019 and only break-even levels in 2020 – a year later than the previous expectation – as well as an adjusted debt-to-EBITDA ratio remaining higher than 6x through 2020.

S&P lowers Wheel Pros view to negative

S&P said it revised Wheel Pros, Inc.'s outlook to negative from stable.

The agency also said it affirmed the B rating with recovery rating of 3 on the company's first-lien term loan and CCC+ rating with recovery rating of 6 on the second-lien term loan.

The 3 rating indicates 50$ to 70% expected default recovery. The 6 rating indicates 0 to 10% expected default recovery.

Wheel Pros is planning to issue an incremental $326 million first-lien term loan and an incremental $90 million second-lien term loan as a part of its acquisition of Mobile Hi-Tech Wheels, S&P said.

The negative outlook reflects the increased risk that the company's debt-to-EBITDA will remain at higher than 6.5x over the next two years, S&P said.

While the agency said it believes the company will produce positive free cash flow, its elevated leverage increases the risk that it could default if the demand for its discretionary products declines.

Moody's affirms Wheel Pros on add-on

Moody's Investors Service said it affirmed Wheel Pros, Inc.'s B3 corporate family rating and B3-PD probability of default rating on its proposed acquisition of Mobile Hi-Tech Wheels.

The agency said it affirmed the $554.3 million guaranteed senior secured first-lien term loan due 2025, including a $326 million add-on, at B2 (LGD 3).

Moody's also said it affirmed the $160 million guaranteed senior secured second-lien term loan due 2026, including a $90 million add-on, at Caa2 (LGD 5).

The outlook is stable.

Wheel Pro's transformational acquisition of Mobile Hi-Tech positions the company as a leader in a highly fragmented market with potential upside for margins and cash flow, Moody's said.

The acquisition is also viewed as aggressive given the amount of debt being issued that will weaken credit metrics and the potential for integration risk, the agency said.

The ratings are broadly constrained by the company's high leverage, increasingly aggressive financial policy evidenced by recent the acquisitions and highly discretionary and narrow product focus, Moody's said.

The ratings are supported by the company's good market position, the agency said.

Moody's lowers PetSmart view to stable

Moody's Investors Service said it changed PetSmart, Inc.'s outlook to stable from negative.

Moody's also said it affirmed PetSmart's corporate family rating at Caa1 and probability of default rating at Caa1-PD.

Moody's also said it affirmed the rating of its senior secured term loan and senior secured notes at B3 and its senior unsecured notes at Caa3.

The stable outlook follows the recent amendment to the company's senior secured credit facility, which removes the immediate risk of a distressed exchange and enhances the collateral value for lenders, the agency said.

Moody's said it expects credit metrics to improve in the next 12 months as the topline and margins stabilize, and as the company prepays $250 million of the term loan as required by the new amendment.

Moody's downgrades Mister Car Wash

Moody's Investors Service said it downgraded Mister Car Wash Holdings, Inc.'s corporate family rating to B3 and probability of default rating to B3-PD.

Moody's also said it assigned a B2 rating to the company's proposed senior secured first-lien credit facility, which includes a $75 million revolver, $775 million term loan and $40 million delayed draw term loan.

The outlook also was changed to stable.

The proceeds will be used to refinance the company's existing debt, including its existing first-lien credit facility and pay a $215 million distribution to shareholders, Moody's said.

While the agency said it views Mister Car Wash as a leading operator in the car wash sub-segment, the downgrade reflects the company's weak quantitative credit profile driven by its debt-financed acquisition strategy.

This was exacerbated by this substantial dividend to its sponsor/owners, Moody's said.

The ratings also consider its solid operating performance, driven by consistent positive same store sales, history of successful growth through acquisitions and significant portion of revenues generated from its unlimited wash subscription business, the agency said.

S&P downgrades Trimark

S&P said it lowered the issuer credit rating on TMK Hawk Parent Corp. (Trimark) to CCC+ from B, along with the issue-level rating on the company's first-lien term loan to CCC+ from B.

The agency also lowered the issue-level rating on its second-lien term loan to CCC- from CCC+.

The recovery ratings are unchanged.

The negative outlook reflects an expectation for break-even free cash flow and leverage of higher than 10x over the next year, S&P said.

Trimark continues to perform at lower than expectations due to high operating expenses, resulting in weaker than expected profitability, adjusted leverage of about 11x and negative free cash flow, the agency said.

The company has experienced weakening operating performance in the past few quarters, S&P said.

Moody's upgrades CBRE

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded the ratings on CBRE Services, Inc., including its senior unsecured rating to Baa1 from Baa2, along with the ratings on its $425 million 5.25% senior notes due 2025 to Baa1 from Baa2 and $600 million 4.875% senior notes due 2026 to Baa1 from Baa2.

The outlook is revised to stable from positive.

The upgrades reflect CBRE's improved credit profile as demonstrated by its substantial improvement in credit metrics since the last upgrade in the second quarter of 2018, Moody's said.

The upgrades also consider its strong business momentum and sustained growth over the past 12 months, the agency said.

The upgrades also recognize that through its multi-year business model transformation CBRE has evolved into a more resilient franchise, Moody's said.

These credit strengths are counterbalanced by the company's modest profitability margins and potential cash flow volatility through market cycles, the agency said.

Moody's upgrades Visa

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded Visa Inc.'s senior unsecured rating to Aa3 from A1.

The outlook is stable.

The upgrades reflect an expectation that Visa will continue to benefit from its leading position in retail electronic payments, globally recognized brand and favorable long-term growth prospects created by the shift to electronic payments from cash and checks worldwide, Moody's said.

Visa's growth will be fueled by faster growth opportunities internationally, which provides some resilience to an economic downturn in the U.S., the agency said.

Moody's also said it expects that Visa will remain committed to a conservative debt capital structure with adjusted debt-to-EBITDA maintained at 1.5x or less.

Visa benefits from the growth in payment volumes processed through its highly scalable payments network and a customer base of banks, the agency said.

S&P rates Aon notes A-

S&P said it assigned an A- senior unsecured debt rating to Aon Corp.'s proposed senior unsecured notes issuance.

Aon will issue these notes with an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee from Aon plc.

The proceeds will be used to pay down a portion of outstanding commercial paper and for general corporate purposes.

The issue is mostly leverage neutral, S&P said.

The company's credit-protection measures are in line with expectations, reflecting financial leverage at 2.4x at year-ended March 31, 2019, the agency said.

Aon's performance during first-quarter 2019 was strong, reflecting organic revenue growth of 6% with positive organic growth across all divisions, S&P said.

The ratings reflect the company's strong business risk profile and intermediate financial risk profile, the agency said.

Fitch rates Aon notes BBB+

Fitch Ratings said it assigned a BBB+ senior unsecured, long-term debt rating to Aon Corp.'s new issuance of senior unsecured notes due May 2, 2029.

The notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by the company's ultimate parent, Aon plc.

The rating is tied to Aon's existing BBB+ long-term issuer default rating.

The outlook is stable.

The proceeds will be used to pay down a portion of outstanding short-term commercial paper and for general corporate purposes, Fitch said.

Fitch rates Boardwalk Pipelines notes BBB-

Fitch Ratings said it assigned a BBB- rating to Boardwalk Pipelines, LP's senior unsecured notes offering due 2029.

The notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by its parent, Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP.

The proceeds from the offering are to be used to refinance $350 million of debt due in 2019 and for other general corporate purposes, Fitch said.

The Boardwalk Pipes currently has a long-term issuer default rating of BBB-.

The outlook is stable.

The company benefits from new projects to offset old contracts, Fitch said.

Boardwalk participated vigorously in the industry's last pipeline building surge in 2008 and 2009, the agency said.

Although expiration of old contracts could be a drag on results, Boardwalk's EBITDA has been relatively steady, Fitch said.

S&P rates Boardwalk Pipelines notes BBB-

S&P said it assigned a BBB- rating to Boardwalk Pipelines LP's proposed senior unsecured notes due 2029.

The proceeds will be used to retire all or a portion of the company's outstanding 5¾% notes due 2019.

The company will use the remainder for general partnership purposes, which may include growth capital expenditure, repayment of future long-term debt maturities and additions to working capital, S&P said.

The company also intends to temporarily use the proceeds to reduce the outstanding borrowings under its revolving credit facility, the agency added.

The ratings reflect the company's BB+ stand-alone credit profile and one-notch uplift it receives from ultimate parent, Loews Corp., S&P said.

Moody's rates Boeing notes A2

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned A2 ratings to the Boeing Co.'s new senior unsecured notes.

The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, which could include terming out commercial-paper borrowings, which stood at $1.992 billion as of March 31, 2019.

The company plans to issue across five tranches with maturities of three-, seven-, 10-, 15- and 30-years with the 10-year portion being a reopening of the company's 3.2% senior notes that were issued on Feb. 15, Moody's explained.

The current A2 senior unsecured rating and stable outlook are unaffected.

The ratings reflect Boeing's position as one of two manufacturers of large commercial airplanes and a prime U.S. defense contractor, the agency said.

The company's backlog provides long-term revenue visibility, Moody's added.

Boeing has excellent liquidity at this time through cash, revolving credit facilities and expected free cash flow, which will provide some cushion as the company manages through the grounding of its MAX narrow-body aircraft and addresses potential costs associated with the grounding that may come following the aircraft's return to service, the agency said.

S&P rates Boeing notes A

S&P said it assigned an A issue-level rating to Boeing Co.'s proposed senior unsecured notes.

The company plans to issue the notes in four tranches due 2022, 2026, 2034 and 2049.

Boeing plans to issue a total of around $2.5 billion in notes, including an add-on to its existing 3.2% notes due 2029, which were issued in February 2019.

The A rating on the 2029 notes is not affected by the proposed transaction, S&P said.

The company will use the proceeds from the proposed notes for general corporate purposes, including funding upcoming debt maturities, repaying some commercial paper and funding recent acquisitions, the agency said.

Any remaining funds would bolster cash reserves as the company continues to deal with the 737 MAX grounding, S&P explained.

The agency said it does not believe the transaction will significantly alter Boeing's credit metrics; therefore all of the other ratings on the company are unchanged.

The ratings reflect the company's position as one of the two global producers of large commercial jetliners and as one of the largest U.S. defense contractors, S&P said.

The ratings also consider the cyclical and competitive nature of the commercial aviation market, the possible budget pressures affecting U.S. defense spending and significant investments required to develop new aircraft, the agency said.

S&P rates Cleveland-Cliffs notes B+

S&P said it assigned a B+ rating to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.'s proposed $750 million guaranteed senior unsecured notes due 2027.

The company will use proceeds primarily to redeem all of the outstanding 4 7/8% non-guaranteed senior unsecured notes due 2021 and to fund a $600 million tender offer for the 5¾% guaranteed senior unsecured notes due 2025.

The balance will be applied to fees and expenses related to the transaction and for general corporate purposes, S&P said.

The issuer credit rating is unchanged at B+ with a stable outlook.

The agency said it does not expect this transaction to have a material impact on adjusted leverage, which is forecast to remain lower than 4x.

Moody's rates Cyxtera loan B1

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a B1 (LGD 3) rating to Cyxtera DC Holdings, Inc.'s $100 million incremental first-lien term loan.

The offering and a similarly sized equity investment is credit positive, Moody's said.

The proceeds will be used to pay down the outstanding revolver balance and for general corporate purposes, including the funding of data center facility expansions to monetize growth opportunities in capacity constrained markets, the agency said.

Moody's said it expects that the combined proceeds will sufficiently fund additional and strategically important discretionary capital spending over the next two years.

This focused expansion better positions Cyxtera to drive revenue and profitability over the intermediate term, the agency said, but will meaningfully delay de-leveraging over the next two years.

Cyxtera is weakly positioned for its B2 corporate family rating despite its standing as the second largest global independent data center operator, Moody's said.

The ratings also consider the company's stable base of contracted recurring revenue, strong network footprint and the favorable near-term growth trends for data center services globally, the agency said.

These positive factors are offset by the company's currently high leverage and weaker than expected revenue and EBITDA growth, Moody's said.

Moody's rates Helios loan B3

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned first-time ratings to Helios Software Holdings, Inc., an operating subsidiary of parent company, ION Corporate Solutions Finance Ltd.

The agency assigned a corporate family rating of B3 and probability of default rating of B3-PD.

Moody's also assigned a B3 (LGD 3) rating to the issuer's proposed senior secured first-lien credit facility, comprised of a $1.81 billion term loan, $400 million term loan and undrawn $30 million revolver.

The outlook is negative.

The proceeds of the new debt financing will be used principally to fund the consolidation of Wall Street Systems Inc., Allegro, Openlink Financial, LLC and Triple Point Technology, Inc., all of which are operating units owned by holding company ION Investment Group, into a single entity, Moody's said.

A portion of the financing will be used to fund a dividend distribution to ION Investment, which expects to subsequently utilize the dividend proceeds for acquisitions, the agency said.

The ratings reflect the combined company's high pro forma trailing debt leverage of nearly 7x, as well as relatively limited scale as a niche provider of software and services for treasury risk management, foreign-exchange processing and energy and commodity trading risk management applications, Moody's said.

Debt leverage is more than 8x when expensing capitalized software costs, the agency said.

The company's credit profile is also negatively impacted by recent weakness in business performance as sales have contracted by about 2% over the past year, Moody's said.

The agency said it believes the software provider's organic revenue growth prospects will be modest over the intermediate term due to the maturity of its target markets.

Fitch rates Lower Cadence loan BB

Fitch Ratings said it assigned a first-time long-term issuer default rating of B+ to Lower Cadence Holdings, LLC, along with a BB rating and recovery rating of RR2 to the company's proposed senior secured term loan B.

The recovery rating of RR2 indicates 71% to 90% expected default recovery.

The outlook is stable.

Stonepeak Cadence Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, is acquiring all assets of Oryx Southern Delaware Holdings LLC (Oryx I) and Oryx Delaware Holdings LLC (Oryx II) for a purchase price of about $3.6 billion, Fitch said.

The transaction will consolidate Oryx I and II into a single borrower and will be funded with a $1.5 billion senior secured term loan B, $150 million super priority revolving credit facility and $2.393 billion of Stonepeak and Management rollover equity.

A portion of the proceeds from the $1.5 billion term loan will be used to repay the remaining balance on the existing Oryx I's $800 million term loan and $80 million super priority revolver, Fitch noted.

The ratings reflect the favorable production economics associated with Lower Cadence's footprint in the Permian basin and the expected cash flow stability under its fixed fee contract profile, the agency said.

The ratings also recognize Lower Cadence's size and scale, high initial leverage level, counterparty risk, project execution and volumetric risk, Fitch said, as well as competitive risks that the company faces as a single basin crude oil Gathering and transportation service provider.

S&P rates Lower Cadence loan B

S&P said it assigned a B issuer credit rating to Lower Cadence Holdings LLC.

The agency also said it assigned the B rating and 3 recovery rating to the company's $1.5 billion secured first-lien term loan due 2026.

The outlook is positive.

The B issuer credit rating on Lower Cadence reflects a view of the company's relatively small scale, exposure to volumetric risk and limited geographic diversity, S&P said.

The agency said it expects leverage to be high under the base-case scenario.

S&P said it forecasts leverage of 8.3x in 2019, dropping to between 5.5x and 6x in 2020.

The agency said it believes that Lower Cadence's developed asset base and downstream connectivity advantages might lead to volume growth above expectations, resulting in further de-leveraging in 2019 and 2020.

Lower Cadence has limited commodity and geographic diversity, concentrated in crude gathering and transport in the Delaware Basin, S&P said.

Partly offsetting this is the very low oil-break-evens that could sustain crude volumes at even low oil prices, the agency said.

S&P rates Quimper loans B, CCC+

S&P said it assigned a B long-term issuer credit rating to Quimper AB, Ahlsell AB's intermediate parent company.

The agency also said it assigned a B issue rating to the €1.558 billion first-lien term loan issued by Quimper, with a recovery rating of 3, indicating 65% expected default recovery.

S&P said it assigned a CCC+ rating to the €288 million and $98.4 million second-lien term loans.

The recovery rating on this proposed instrument is 6, indicating an expectation of no recovery in a default.

CVC Capital Partners took Ahlsell private and as part of this transaction, Ahlsell raised new debt and refinanced its capital structure, S&P said.

The stable outlook reflects a view that Ahlsell will continue to grow organically and through bolt-on acquisitions, the agency said, and an adjusted debt-to-EBITDA of 6x to 7x in 2019 and 2020.

The ratings reflect the company's highly leveraged financial profile and a view that the new owners could also display an increased tolerance for higher leverage and a less conservative financial policy, increasing the potential for higher shareholder returns in the future, S&P said.

Moody's rates Textron notes Baa2

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a Baa2 rating to Textron Inc.'s new unsecured notes due 2029.

The issuance does not impact other ratings of Textron, including the Baa2 senior unsecured or P-2 short-term ratings.

The outlook is stable.

The ratings reflect the company's scale and diversity in multiple industries, including aviation, defense and general industrial, Moody's said.

The company also has a long history as a key supplier to customers in the business jet and helicopter markets, the agency noted.

The ratings also consider the cyclical nature of Textron's businesses, especially the aviation segment with more than 90% of revenue coming from the highly cyclical commercial aviation market, Moody's said.

S&P rates Textron notes BBB

S&P said it assigned a BBB rating to Textron Inc.'s proposed $300 million unsecured notes due 2029.

The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.

The proposed transaction is not expected to significantly alter Textron's credit metrics, S&P said.

The ratings reflect Textron's well-diversified product portfolio, leading market positions in its main markets and exposure to the cyclical and competitive aviation, automotive and industrial markets, the agency said.

S&P said it expects the company's credit ratios to improve steadily over the next two years on higher deliveries of new business jet models, which offsets weakness in other segments.

The agency said it expects management to make moderate share repurchases and pursue small- to mid-sized acquisitions using internal cash flows.

This will help it maintain credit ratios that are consistent with the current ratings, S&P noted.

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