S&P upgrades ViaWest

Standard & Poor’s said it raised the corporate credit rating on ViaWest Inc. to B+ from B.

The agency also said it raised the rating on ViaWest’s senior secured debt to B+ from B and removed all of the ratings from CreditWatch, where they were placed with positive implications in July following news that Shaw Communications signed an agreement to buy ViaWest in a transaction valued at $1.2 billion.

The upgrades reflect an unchanged view of ViaWest’s standalone credit profile of B, plus one notch of uplift based on a view that ViaWest is moderately strategic to higher-rated Shaw, S&P said.

As part of the transaction, Shaw received a waiver under the bank credit facility’s change of control provision, enabling the existing debt at ViaWest to remain outstanding, the agency said.

The ratings reflect the company’s small scale, limited business diversity and exposure to economically sensitive small business customers, S&P said.

These risks are somewhat offset the company’s multi-year contracts and its focus on less competitive markets, the agency said.

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