Moody's rates Hexion loans B1, affirms units

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a B1 rating to Hexion Specialty Chemicals Inc.'s new $675 million guaranteed senior secured credit facilities, a Caa3 rating to its $350 million preferred stock and a speculative grade liquidity rating of SGL-2.

Additionally, Moody's affirmed the existing debt ratings of Borden Chemicals Inc. and Resolution Performance Products LLC, including Borden's B3 rated guaranteed second-priority senior secured notes and Caa1 rated senior unsecured notes and debentures and Resolution Performance's B2 rated 8% guaranteed senior secured notes, B3 rated 9½% guaranteed senior secured notes and Caa2 rated senior subordinated notes.

These actions follow the announcement last week that Apollo Management Inc. plans to merge its wholly owned chemical businesses Borden, Resolution Performance and Resolution Specialty Materials LLC to create Hexion.

The outlook has been returned to negative from developing. However, if Hexion completes its initial public offering as currently contemplated, Moody's said it would change the outlook to stable.

Moody's said this merger is occurring against the backdrop of an improving operating environment for many of the company's products, especially in epoxy resins, which has experienced a substantial improvement in profitability.

© 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.