Moody's downgrades Energizer

Moody's Investors Service said it downgraded the corporate family rating of Energizer Holdings, Inc. to B1 from Ba2 and probability of default rating to B1-PD from Ba2-PD.

Moody's also said it downgraded the rating on the company's $600 million unsecured global notes to B2 from Ba3.

The agency also said it assigned a Ba1 rating on the company's proposed $1.6 billion in new senior secured credit facilities.

The proceeds from the new facilities will be used to acquire the Spectrum battery company, refinance existing debt and pay estimated fees and expenses, Moody's said.

The outlook is stable.

This concludes a review that began in January when the Spectrum battery acquisition was announced, the agency noted.

The downgrades reflect the substantial increase in Energizer's pro forma financial leverage with its debt-to-EBITDA ratio increasing to 6.3x from about 3.2x, Moody's said.

The agency also said the ratings recognize the heightened integration and execution risk given that this is the largest acquisition in Energizer's history.

© 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.