Moody's: Thornberry CFR B2, Artsonig notes Caa1

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a provisional B2 corporate family rating to Thornberry Holdings Pty Ltd., a holding company that indirectly fully owns Bis Industries Ltd.

Bis has market leading positions in off-road load and haul and underground mining services in Australia. Apart from Bis, Thornberry does not own any other meaningful business.

At the same time the agency assigned a provisional Caa1 rating to Artsonig Pty Ltd.'s proposed five-year dollar equivalent of A$280 million senior unsecured PIK notes. Artsonig is a wholly owned subsidiary of Thornberry Holdings and direct parent company of Bis Industries.

Proceeds from the issuance will be used to repay existing PIK notes.

The outlook is stable.

"The (P)B2 corporate family rating reflects the company's strong franchise and market position in off-road load and haul operations and to specialist underground services relating to run of mine and longwall relocations, established relationships and contracted revenue with high quality customers," Moody's vice president and senior analyst Maurice O'Connell said in a news release.

"The rating also reflects a heavily levered financial profile and weak free cashflow position after capital expenditure."

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