S&P rates Advantage Sales B+ and loans B+, B-

Standard & Poor's said it assigned Advantage Sales & Marketing Inc. a B+ corporate credit rating and its $975 million senior secured first-lien credit facility, consisting of a $100 million revolver and an $875 million term loan, a B+ rating with a 4 recovery rating, indicating the expectation of average (30%-50%) recovery in the event of default.

S&P said it also assigned the company's $350 million second-lien term loan a B- issue-level rating with a 6 recovery rating, indicating the expectation of negligible (0%-10%) recovery in the event of default.

The outlook is stable.

The company used the proceeds of the debt issuance, in addition to an equity investment from Apax Partners, to fund Apax's purchase of a majority equity stake in Advantage, retire the company's current credit facilities and pay fees associated with the transaction.

The ratings reflect the expectation that the company will enhance credit metrics in the near term as a result of both better profitability and debt reduction using free cash flow, as well as the company's fair business risk and highly leveraged financial risk, S&P said.

© 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.