Moody's rates Insight Midwest loans Ba3

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a Ba3 rating and LGD3 loss-given-default assessment to Insight Midwest Holdings, LLC's $350 million senior secured revolving credit facility, $500 million senior secured term loan A and $1.725 billion senior secured term loan B.

In addition, Moody's upgraded Insight Communications Co., Inc.'s 12¼% senior discount notes to B3 with an LGD6 loss-given-default assessment from Caa1, downgraded Insight Midwest LP's 9¾% notes to B3 with an LGD5 loss-given-default assessment from B2 and assigned B1 probability-of-default ratings to Insight Midwest and Insight Communications.

Finally, the agency affirmed the B1 corporate family ratings of Insight Midwest and Insight Communications, Insight Midwest's B2 10½% senior unsecured notes and B3 9¾% senior unsecured notes and Insight Midwest Holdings' existing Ba3 bank credit facilities.

The new facilities will replace Midwest Holdings' existing revolving credit facility, term loan A and term loan C and Insight Midwest's 10½% senior notes and a portion of its 9¾% senior notes. The refinancing increases the size of available revolving credit, reduces mandatory amortization and increases the overall proportion of secured debt in Insight Communication's capital structure, the agency said.

The ratings reflect the Insight Midwest's high leverage (approximately 6.2x), lack of interest coverage after capital expenditures during 2006, heightened business risk from increasing competition and the agency's concerns over the eventual dissolution of Insight Midwest's partnership with Comcast Corp.

Insight Communications' technologically advanced cable plant and well-clustered assets, expected benefits from continued growth of high speed data subscribers and from the roll out of new services and Insight Midwest's enhanced liquidity profile following the financing support the ratings, Moody's 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.