S&P rates AGL notes BBB+

Standard & Poor's said it has assigned a BBB+ rating on AGL Capital Corp.'s pending $400 million of senior notes. The notes will be placed on CreditWatch negative.

The company will use proceeds mainly to pay down outstanding commercial paper.

All of the long-term ratings on AGL and Atlanta Gas Light Co. remain on CreditWatch negative, where they were placed them on Dec. 7, the agency said.

AGL plans to acquire Nicor Inc. for roughly $3.1 billion. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and likely will not close until late 2011, S& said.

The ratings consider Nicor's relatively low rates, good cost structure and diverse supply portfolio as well as the view that AGL's and Nicor's nonregulated businesses have inherently high cash-flow volatility, the agency said.

The new company's financial risk profile will likely be aggressive, the agency added.

© 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.