Moody's rates SW Acquisition Ba3, loan Ba2

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned SW Acquisition Co., Inc., the parent of Busch Entertainment Corp., a Ba3 corporate family rating , a Ba3 probability of default rating and a Ba2 rating to SW Acquisition's $1.175 billion senior secured bank credit facility.

The agency said that these first time ratings are assigned in connection with the Blackstone Group's proposed $2.4 billion, including fees, acquisition of BEC from Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Proceeds from the credit facility, a $400 million senior unsecured mezzanine facility and a $975 million equity contribution from Blackstone will be used to fund the proposed acquisition and related fees, the agency noted.

The outlook is stable.

According to Moody's, the Ba3 corporate family rating reflects the strong brands and consumer appeal of Busch's portfolio of 10 regional and destination amusement parks, tempered by exposure to cyclical discretionary consumer spending, the high debt-to-EBITDA leverage (4.5x LTM 9/30/09 pro forma for the transaction and incorporating Moody's standard adjustments and $16.5 million of early retirement expense in Q4-08) resulting from the acquisition, exposure to floating interest rates, and event risks related to cash distributions or leveraging actions by equity sponsor Blackstone.

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