Moody's: Elior loan, notes B3

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a B2 corporate family rating and a B3-PD probability of default rating to Holding Bercy Investissement SCA (Elior) and a preliminary B3 rating to about €1.8 billion of senior secured facilities borrowed by Holding Bercy Investissement SCA and Elior.

Moody's also said it assigned a preliminary B3 rating to the €300 million of senior secured notes due 2020 to be issued by Elior Finance & Co SCA.

The outlook is stable.

The notes will be issued in conjunction with Elior's amend-and-extend of its senior secured bank debt and the proceeds will be on-lent to refinance a portion of that debt, Moody's said.

The overall transaction also includes funding for the acquisition of Trust House Services Inc., the agency said.

The ratings reflect the company's high adjusted leverage of 5.6x as of September 2012 pro forma for the acquisitions that closed in 2012, Moody's said, and an expectation that near-term deleveraging will be limited given an anticipated active acquisition strategy.

The ratings also consider the company's exposure to Southern Europe, where trading conditions remain challenging, the agency said.

The ratings are supported by the company's strong business profile, underpinned by the company's dominant market positions in France, Spain and Italy, Moody's said.

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