S&P upgrades Iglo Foods, notes; rates loan BB-

Standard & Poor's said it raised its long-term corporate credit rating on Iglo Foods Holdings Ltd. to BB- from B+.

The outlook is stable.

At the same time, the agency raised its issue ratings to BB- from B+ on the senior secured notes issued under Iglo Foods BondCo plc, maturing in 2020, and on the existing senior secured loans issued under Iglo Foods Midco Ltd., maturing in 2019 and 2020. The 3 recovery ratings on the secured notes and the secured loans are unchanged and indicate an expectation of average (50%-70%; lower half of the range) recovery in the event of a payment default.

Finally, S&P assigned an issue rating of BB- and recovery rating of 3 to the proposed €285 million secured loan.

The agency said the upgrade reflects its view that Iglo Foods group's credit metrics will remain stable following the £500 million acquisition of Findus' European assets, which confirms, in S&P’s view, a consistent financial policy in terms of debt leverage. The financing mix of the transaction comprises equity from shareholder Nomad Food and new debt being issued at the Iglo Foods level.

Post-acquisition, the agency forecasts Iglo Foods to generate around €150 million of free operating cash flow annually and have a ratio of S&P adjusted-debt to EBITDA of around 4.5 times.

© 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.