S&P rates Windstream loan BB

S&P said it assigned a BB rating and 1 recovery rating to Windstream Holdings Inc.'s proposed $580 million senior secured term loan B-7 due 2024 to be issued out of wholly-owned subsidiary Windstream Services LLC.

The 1 recovery rating indicates 90% to 100% expected default recovery.

The proceeds will be used to repay its existing senior secured term loan B-5 due 2019, which had about $574 million outstanding as of Sept. 30, 2016, S&P said.

The B+ corporate credit rating and stable outlook are not affected by the loan transaction since it is essentially leverage neutral, the agency said, although interest costs will be modestly higher.

The company’s adjusted debt-to-EBITDA ratio will be about 5x in 2017 after its EarthLink acquisition, which is expected to close in the first half of 2017, the agency said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.