Moody’s might lift Hiland, notes

Moody's Investors Service said it placed Hiland Partners, LP's ratings on review for upgrade, including the B1 corporate family rating, B1-PD probability of default rating and B2 senior unsecured note rating.

The review was initiated after the announcement that Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI, Baa3 stable) agreed to purchase Hiland for about $3 billion, including the assumption of the partnership's roughly $1 billion of outstanding debt. The review period is expected to last about 30 days and the degree of ratings improvement will depend on the level of credit support Kinder Morgan provides to Hiland.

"After its acquisition by KMI, Hiland will benefit from its affiliation with the largest midstream energy company in the U.S.," Moody's vice president and senior credit officer Stuart Miller said in a news release.

"Depending on the level of explicit credit support provided, we expect the senior unsecured rating to be upgraded by at least one notch, but possibly five notches if KMI provides an unconditional guarantee of Hiland's debt."

© 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.