Moody’s ups Academy, rates loan B2

Moody’s Investors Service said it upgraded Academy, Ltd.’s corporate family rating to B1 from B2 and probability of default rating to B1-PD from B2-PD. Concurrently, Moody’s assigned a B2 rating to the proposed $400 million senior secured term loan due 2027. The speculative-grade liquidity rating was upgraded to SGL-1 from SGL-2.

“The CFR and PDR upgrades reflect governance considerations, particularly the material debt reduction as a result of the transaction. The SGL upgrade to SGL-1 from SGL-2 reflects the debt maturity extension and Moody’s projections for solid positive free cash flow, high cash balances and ample availability on the $1 billion asset-backed revolver,” Moody’s said in a press release.

Loan proceeds, $400 million of other new pari passu secured debt and an estimated $648 million of balance sheet cash will be used to refinance the company’s $1.434 billion term loan due 2022 and pay for fees and expenses.

The outlook is stable.

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