Moody’s assigns Northwest Fiber B2

Moody’s Investors Service said it assigned a first-time B2 corporate family rating and a B2-PD probability of default rating to Northwest Fiber, LLC (Ziply Fiber).

“Northwest Fiber’s B2 CFR reflects governance considerations, specifically our expectation that the company’s financial policy includes a significant capital investing strategy to gain market share through telecom infrastructure upgrades which Moody’s expects will result in debt leverage increasing to a peak level of 4.2x or higher in 2021 on a Moody’s adjusted basis,” the agency said in a press release.

Moody’s also assigned a B1 rating to the company’s senior secured credit facilities, which consist of a $100 million five year revolver (undrawn at close) and a $790.5 million seven-year term loan.

The B1 on the senior secured credit facilities reflects the loss absorption from $250 million of senior unsecured debt under an unrated bridge facility. The company plans to refinance the bridge facility with new senior unsecured debt shortly, Moody’s said.

Proceeds from the loans, balance sheet cash and an equity contribution will be used to buy to acquire WholeSAIL Networks, LLC, pay fees and expenses and for future capital expenditures.

The outlook is stable.

© 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.