S&P puts Apartment Income on watch

S&P said it placed Apartment Income REIT Corp.’s BBB issuer rating on CreditWatch with negative implications.

AIRC announced that Blackstone affiliates will buy its outstanding shares in an all-cash transaction valued at about $10 billion.

“We anticipate AIRC's key credit metrics will likely deteriorate following the close of the acquisition. Although we do not yet have all of the details regarding the company's capital structure following the close of the transaction, we regard Blackstone as a financial sponsor that is likely to continue to saddle aggressive debt leverage upon its portfolio companies during leveraged buyouts,” the agency said in a press release.

The deal's closure is subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals and is not subject to a financing condition.

S&P warned it could downgrade AIRC depending on its leverage under new ownership.

© 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.