NEW YORK-Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services raised the rating on Centennial Cellular Operating Co. L.L.C.’s and wireless provider Centennial Puerto Rico Operations Corp.’s $735 million jointly available secured bank facilities from B- to B and affirmed its B- corporate rating on Centennial Communications Corp.
“The upgrades reflect the fact that the bank facility has been permanently reduced to $735 million with the proceeds of the new unsecured note issue,” explained Catherine Cosentino, credit analyst at S&P. “As a result, the bank loan rating is now one notch above the corporate credit rating to reflect the strong likelihood of full recovery of principal.”
S&P noted that the loan has an upstream guarantee from the U.S. wireless and Puerto Rico wireless operating subsidiaries, and their assets are pledged to the banks as collateral under the security agreement.
