S&P rates Vizient notes B

S&P said it assigned a B rating and 6 recovery rating to Vizient Inc.'s proposed $300 million unsecured notes.

The 6 recovery rating indicates 0 to 10% expected default recovery.

The proceeds will be used to refinance its existing debt, including the existing unsecured notes.

The BB- issuer credit rating on Vizient reflects an expectation that the company will pursue its acquisition strategy, but keep leverage to less than 4.5x, S&P said.

The company's growth and debt reduction have enabled it to reduce leverage to about 3.7x from about 4.4x from 2017 to 2018, the agency said.

Its ample cash flow enables both actual debt repayment and the capacity to fund modest acquisition activity, S&P said.

The ratings also reflect Vizient's specialized focused, but leading position as the largest group purchasing organization (GPO) serving acute care hospitals in the United States, the agency said.

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