Moody's gives Altice France notes B2/Caa1 ratings

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a B2 rating to the proposed €500 million senior secured notes due in 2025 to be issued by Altice France SA and a Caa1 rating to the proposed €1.6 billion-equivalent senior notes due in 2028, to be issued by YPSO Finance BIS SA, a new borrowing entity fully owned by Altice France. The outlook on the new company is negative.

The €1.6 billion proceeds, together with €518 million proceeds from the asset disposals at Altice International Sarl, will be used to repay the €2.1 billion-equivalent senior notes due in 2025 issued by Altice Luxembourg SA. The new €500 million notes due 2025 will be used to repay the drawn portion of the €1.125 billion revolver at Altice France due in 2023, which was used to fund the acquisition of Covage (unrated).

Altice also indicated it will offer to exchange €2.9 billion-equivalent senior notes issued by Altice Luxembourg maturing in 2027 into senior notes with the same maturity, issued by a newly incorporated immediate holding company of Altice France (Altice France Holdco), subject to the consent of more than 50.1% of bondholders.

“The refinancing will extend modestly the debt maturity profile of the Altice Luxembourg entities and will bring additional interest savings at group level which will support free-cash-flow generation from 2020 onwards," said Ernesto Bisagno, a Moody's vice president, senior credit officer and lead analyst for Altice, in a press release.

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