Moody’s could lift WhiteWave

Moody's Investors Service said it placed the ratings of WhiteWave Foods Co., including its Ba2 corporate family rating, on review for upgrade.

This follows the announcement that Danone (Baa1 stable) signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire WhiteWave for $56.25 per share in cash, representing a total enterprise value of $12.5 billion, including debt and certain other liabilities.

The transaction represents a 24% premium over WhiteWave’s 30-day average share price and represents a multiple of more than 21 times consensus expectations for its 2016 EBITDA. Danone has stated that it expects to realize $300 million of EBIT synergies by 2020.

Moody's said it believes that the post-acquisition entity will be a stronger credit than WhiteWave on a stand-alone basis.

WhiteWave’s ratings will be withdrawn if its debt is fully repaid as part of the transaction, which is expected to close by calendar year-end 2016.

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