Moody's may upgrade Dobson

Moody's Investors Service said it placed the debt of Dobson Communications Corp., Dobson Cellular Systems Inc. and American Cellular Corp. on review for possible upgrade following the news that AT&T Inc. intends to acquire the company for $5.1 billion, including the assumption of debt.

Ratings under review include Dobson's B2 corporate family and probability-of-default ratings and Caa1 senior unsecured regular and convertible bonds; Dobson Cellular's Ba2 senior secured bank credit facility and senior secured bonds due 2011 and B1 senior secured bonds due 2012; and American Cellular's B1 senior secured bank credit facility and B3 senior unsecured bonds due 2011.

The review will focus AT&T's plans with regard to the existing Dobson debt. Should the debt be unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed or legally assumed, the agency said Dobson's ratings will be upgraded to that of AT&T. If AT&T does not provide an unconditional and irrevocable guarantee of the assumed Dobson debt or sufficient financial information for the issuers to allow the agency to form an opinion regarding their standalone creditworthiness, the ratings will be withdrawn.

© 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.