date:Mar 22, 2013
BB+.
SP plans to lower the rating to BB- after the buyout is completed.
Moody's rates the corporate family at Ba3, which reflects the high degree of leverage from the transaction of roughly 6.3x debt/Ebitda, although if including the US$8bn of preferred stock that is being bought by Berkshire Hathaway, that would rise to 10 times.
Moody's said cash flow metrics are weakened by high interest expense and at least US$720m of dividends, which it assumes will be upstreamed annually to service the