Fitch ups Rockwood; loan BB+

Fitch Ratings said it upgraded the issuer default rating for Rockwood Specialties Group, Inc. to BB from B+ and the senior subordinated notes to BB- from B+ with recovery rating of RR4.

Recovery prospects for the securities remain good, but explicit recovery ratings are not assigned for issuer default ratings above B+.

The agency said it assigned a BB+ rating on the company's new senior secured revolving credit facility and BB+ rating on its new senior secured term loans.

The outlook is stable.

The ratings reflect leading positions in many of its product lines, diversification by market and end-use, good profit margins and consistent generation of free cash flow, Fitch said.

The refinancing of the facilities is expected to extend the maturity of the revolver to 2016 and the new $850 million term loan is to mature in 2018, the agency said.

Fitch said it expects the security on the financing to remain the substantially the same as the existing facilities. The agency said will withdraw the BB+ rating on the existing bank facilities at closing.

The stable outlook reflects expectations that margins should remain stable, liquidity should remain ample, average annual free cash flow should exceed $150 million and leverage should remain under 3x, Fitch said.

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