Moody’s rates Publicis bonds Baa2

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a Baa2 rating to the €1.2 billion aggregate of senior unsecured bonds being issued by Publicis Groupe SA.

Proceeds will be used to fund the acquisition of Sapient Corp.

The outlook is stable.

On Nov. 3, Publicis announced that it will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Sapient for $3.7 billion. Publicis will be funding the acquisition with cash on hand and additional debt. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015 following required regulatory approvals.

Following this announcement, Moody's affirmed Publicis' issuer rating at Baa2 but changed the outlook to stable from positive.

While the agency expects higher leverage for Publicis resulting from the acquisition of Sapient, the overall credit metrics are expected to remain consistent with the thresholds that Moody's had indicated for the Baa2 rating.

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