A.I. Candelaria Spain's Proposed Senior Secured Notes Of Up To $575M Rated 'BB-', Existing 'BB-' Debt Rating Affirmed

SAO PAULO (S&P Global Ratings) May 5, 2021--S&P Global Ratings assigned its 'BB-' issue-level rating to A.I. Candelaria Spain's (Candelaria's) proposed senior secured notes for up to $575 million. Candelaria will use the proceeds to make a tender offer for up to $350 million of its existing $750 million senior secured notes due 2028 and to increase its stake in Oleoducto Central, S.A. (OCENSA) (BBB-/Negative/--) to a total of 27.352%. At the same time, we affirmed the 'BB-' issue-level rating on Candelaria's existing notes. We view that the increase in debt and related financial expenses are offset by the higher dividends from OCENSA and the more affordable debt maturity schedule. Our base-case scenario assumes that following the 5% increase in

...May 5, 2021 SAO PAULO (S&P Global Ratings) May 5, 2021--S&P Global Ratings assigned its '##-' issue-level rating to A.I. Candelaria Spain's (Candelaria's) proposed senior secured notes for up to $575 million. Candelaria will use the proceeds to make a tender offer for up to $350 million of its existing $750 million senior secured notes due 2028 and to increase its stake in Oleoducto Central, S.A. (OCENSA) (###-/Negative/--) to a total of 27.352%. At the same time, we affirmed the '##-' issue-level rating on Candelaria's existing notes. We view that the increase in debt and related financial expenses are offset by the higher dividends from OCENSA and the more affordable debt maturity schedule. Our base-case scenario assumes that following the 5% increase in Candelaria's stake in OCENSA, dividends to the former will be $185 million - $190 million in 2021 and $200 million - $220 million in 2022-2023. We expect these dividends to allow Candelaria to meet operating and financial expenses--including...

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