Moody's lifts Independencia

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded Independencia SA's local-currency corporate family rating and senior unsecured rating to B2 from B3 and assigned a B2 rating to its proposed guaranteed senior unsecured notes of $250 million due 2015 to be issued by Independencia International Ltd. and unconditionally guaranteed by Independencia, subject to closing.

The outlook is stable. The action concludes the review that began on March 31.

"The upgrade of Independencia's rating reflects the company's successful growth over the past years in terms of revenues, slaughterhouses and geographic diversification in terms of number of states, reducing significantly the company's vulnerability to trade embargos from importing countries," Moody's vice president Soummo Mukherjee said in a written statement.

"At the same time, the upgrade also recognizes the company's continued progress in terms of improved corporate governance and financial disclosure standards," Mukherjee said.

The company lowered leverage to levels comfortably below 4 times, the agency said.

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