Moody's gives RLJ Trust, notes Ba3

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned first-time ratings to RLJ Lodging Trust, LP, the operating subsidiary of RLJ Lodging Trust, including a Ba3 corporate family rating. Moody's also assigned a Ba3 rating to the company's planned offering of $400 million of senior secured notes due 2026.

The notes will be guaranteed by the company and certain subsidiaries of the partnership that guarantee the senior credit facilities.

“RLJ's Ba3 credit profile benefits from its platform as the fourth largest U.S. hotel REIT with $5.3 billion in total assets and its high-quality portfolio of 102 premium-branded, focused-service and compact full-service hotels, comprising approximately 22,600 rooms. The REIT owns and invests in smaller, upper-scale/upscale-designated hotels that cater to leisure and transient-oriented demand,” Moody’s said in a press release.

The REIT intends to use the proceeds to partially repay outstanding near-term maturity indebtedness under RLJ's credit facilities, partially repay its outstanding secured mortgage indebtedness and for general corporate purposes. Moody's also assigned a speculative grade liquidity rating of SGL-3 to the company.

The outlook is stable, reflecting the position that earnings and cash flows will improve over the next 12 to 18 months as more and more people start traveling again, Moody’s said.

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