S&P affirms National Vision after add-on

S&P said it affirmed all of the ratings, including the B corporate credit rating, on National Vision Inc.

The outlook is stable.

The agency also said it affirmed the B rating on the company's first-lien term loan, including the proposed $175 million incremental first-lien term loan add-on. The 4 recovery rating is unchanged and indicates 30% to 50% expected default recovery.

S&P also said it affirmed the CCC+ rating on the $125 million second-lien term loan. The recovery rating remains at 6, indicating 0 to 10% expected default recovery.

The ratings reflect a belief that National Vision will be able to modestly de-leverage over the next 12 months, primarily driven by new store openings and organic growth, the agency said.

Pro forma for the transaction, leverage will increase to the 6.3x range from 5.3x as of Oct. 1, S&P said.

Supporting the forecast for performance growth is the continuation of good performance trends with robust same-store sales in the 6% to 7% range for the 12 months that ended Oct. 1, 2016, the agency said.

This trend is expected to continue as the company benefits from economies of scale, S&P added.

© 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.