S&P ups Access Midstream debt to BB

Standard & Poor's said it raised its corporate credit rating on Access Midstream Partners LP to BB from BB-.

At the same time, the agency raised its issue-level rating on Access' senior unsecured debt to BB from BB-. The 4 recovery rating is unchanged.

The outlook is stable.

S&P said it bases the upgrade on Access' increased size and geographic diversity, in addition to slightly improved counterparty risk as a result of Chesapeake Energy Corp.'s outlook revision to stable from negative.

Access has steadily increased its scale and geographic footprint through organic capital spending projects and acquisitions that have been closely aligned with its core competencies while maintaining an entirely fee-based contract mix, the agency said.

"The partnership is in the midst of several growth projects and, as a result, we project leverage to peak in early 2013 and decrease modestly by the end of the year to 4.5x as cash flow gradually increases," S&P credit analyst Nora Pickens said in a news release.

© 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.