S&P rates Selective Insurance notes BBB

Standard & Poor's said it assigned its BBB rating to Selective Insurance Group Inc.'s $100 million 6.6% senior unsecured debt issue due 2035. S&P said it also gave BBB counterparty credit and subordinated debt ratings to the company.

Selective will use the proceeds for share repurchases, for repayment of existing debt outstanding as it matures, for capital contributions to its insurance affiliates and for general corporate purposes.

The rating reflects the Selective's good competitive position, strong operating performance, strong operating-company capitalization and conservative capital structure, the agency said.

Following this transaction, Selective will have total debt outstanding of about $340 million, and S&P said it expects fixed-charge coverage to decline modestly in 2006 from about 10x in 2005, but leverage and coverage ratios will remain conservative for the rating category.

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