S&P gives Vision Holding loans B, CCC+

Standard & Poor's said it assigned a B corporate credit rating to Nautilus Merger Sub Inc.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Vision Holding Corp., the direct parent of National Vision Inc., in a leveraged buyout transaction. Upon completion of the transaction, Nautilus will be merged with and into Vision Holding.

At the same time, the agency lowered its corporate credit rating on National Vision to B from B+ and removed it from CreditWatch with negative implications, where it was placed on Feb. 10.

The outlooks are stable.

Concurrently, S&P assigned a B issue-level rating with a 3 recovery rating to Nautilus Merger 's proposed $550 million first-lien credit facility. The facility consists of a $75 million revolver (undrawn at closing) and a $475 million first-lien term loan. The 3 recovery rating indicates an expectation for meaningful (50%-70%) recovery for lenders in the event of a payment default.

In addition, the agency assigned a CCC+ issue-level rating with a 6 recovery rating to Nautilus Merger 's $150 million second-lien term loan. The 6 recovery rating indicates an expectation for negligible (0%-10%) recovery of principal in the event of a payment default.

The company will use proceeds from the term loans along with equity contribution to fund the acquisition of the company by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.

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