Moody’s upgrades Hilton

Moody’s Investors Service said it upgraded Hilton Worldwide Finance, LLC’s corporate family rating to Ba3 and probability of default rating to Ba3-PD.

Moody’s also said it affirmed Hilton’s speculative grade liquidity rating at SGL-1.

The outlook remains positive.

The agency also upgraded the rating on its $1 billion revolving credit facility due 2018 to Ba2 (LGD 3) from Ba3 (LGD 3); $4.85 billion term loan due 2020 to Ba2 (LGD 3) from Ba3 (LGD 3); and $1.5 billion senior unsecured notes due 2021 to B2 (LGD 5) from B3 (LGD 5).

The upgrades acknowledge the substantial progress Hilton has made in reducing leverage by repaying debt and growing EBITDA, Moody’s said.

For the 12 months ended March 31, 2015, the company’s debt-to-EBITDA fell to 5.1x from 5.5x at year-end 2014, the agency said.

The positive outlook reflects an expectation that Hilton will continue to de-leverage through a combination of $800 million to $1 billion in debt repayments during 2015 and further growth in EBITDA, Moody’s said.

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