Moody's rates Sabre B2, loans B1

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned initial ratings to Tiger Acquisition, LLC (Sabre Industries), including a B2 corporate family rating and a B2-PD probability of default rating. Concurrently, Moody's gave a B1 rating to the company's $125 million first-lien senior secured revolving credit facility and $875 million first-lien senior secured term loan.

“Sabre Industries' B2 CFR reflects its very high leverage (well exceeding 7x pro forma debt/EBITDA) and moderate revenue scale. At the same time, the B2 CFR incorporates Sabre's vulnerability to capex and infrastructure spending cycles in the telecom business (about one-third of revenue), which can be volatile,” Moody’s said in a press release.

Offsetting these issues is Sabre’s leading market positions and high revenue visibility, the agency noted.

Proceeds, in addition to an unrated $345 million second-lien term loan and an equity contribution, will fund the acquisition of Sabre by private equity fund, Blackstone. Sabre Industries, Inc.’s existing ratings will be withdrawn once existing debt is repaid.

The outlook is stable. The outlook is based on the expectation Sabre will generate healthy free cash flow, supported by its record backlog, that will be used to reduce debt over the next two years, Moody’s 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.