Moody's rates Braskem notes Ba1

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a Ba1 foreign-currency rating to the senior unsecured perpetual notes in the amount of about $350 million to be issued by Braskem Finance Ltd. Braskem Finance's $500 million senior unsecured notes due 2018 have a Ba1 foreign-currency rating and $750 million senior unsecured notes due 2020 have a Ba1 foreign-currency rating.

All of the notes are guaranteed by Braskem SA, which has a corporate family rating of Ba1, Brazilian national scale rating of Aa2.br,

The proposed notes issuance is part of Braskem's liability management to improve its debt maturity profile, and will not affect its leverage metrics as the proceeds will be used to redeem Braskem's existing perpetual notes of the same amount, Moody's said.

The outlook is stable.

The ratings are supported by its size as the largest petrochemical company in Brazil and in the Americas by production capacity, the agency said.

The ratings also benefit from its high capacity utilization rates, long-term client relationships, product customization and logistics-related barriers for thermoplastic resin imports, Moody's said.

The rating also factors in the company's high exposure to volatile naphtha prices, its moderate geographic diversification and the event risk associated with the company's internationalization process, the agency added.

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