Moody's lifts Votorantim notes from junk

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded to Baa3 from Ba1 the foreign-currency rating of Votorantim Overseas Trading Operations - Voto III's $300 million 7 7/8% guaranteed senior unsecured notes due 2014. The notes are jointly guaranteed by Votorantim Participacões SA, Votorantim Celulose e Papel SA, Votorantim Cimento Brasil Ltda. and Votorantim Metais Zinco Ltda.

The outlook is stable, as the foreign-currency rating of the notes is constrained by Brazil's Baa3 sovereign ceiling. This concludes the review begun on Aug. 20.

Simultaneously, Moody's assigned issuer ratings of Baa3 on its global scale and Aaa.br on its Brazilian national scale to Votorantim Participacões. The outlook on the global issuer rating is positive, and the outlook on the national scale rating is stable.

The agency said Votorantim Participacões' Baa3 rating is primarily supported by its position as one of the largest Latin American private sector conglomerates, its prudent financial management and its cost-competitive operations.

Despite recent improvements, transparency remains a constraining factor on Votorantim's rating, Moody's added.

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