S&P lifts Access Midstream view to stable

Standard & Poor's said it affirmed the BB- corporate credit rating and BB senior unsecured rating on Access Midstream Partners LP.

The outlook was revised to stable from negative.

The agency also assigned a BB- and 4 recovery rating to the company's $1.4 billion proposed senior unsecured notes co-issued by ACMP Finance Corp.

The company has announced that it intends to acquire Chesapeake Midstream Operating LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chesapeake Midstream Development LLC for $2.16 billion.

The transaction adds meaningful resource potential to the partnership's operating footprint, while maintaining stable cash flows due to a 100% fixed-fee contract mix enhanced by cost-of-service features, S&P said.

Although this presents some execution risk, the agency said it believes Chesapeake Midstream complements Access Midstream's core competencies and the successful build-out of infrastructure is reasonably achievable.

The primary risk to cash flow relates to the counterparty exposure to Chesapeake Midstream, S&P said.

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