...- Pharmaceutical manufacturer AbbVie Inc. has completed its acquisition of Allergan plc. - Leverage rises as a result of the transaction. Pro forma, we estimate leverage in the mid-3x area. - We are lowering our issuer credit rating and unsecured debt rating on AbbVie to '###+' from 'A-'. We are also lowering our short-term rating to 'A-2' from 'A-1'. - Our stable outlook reflects our expectation for revenue growth, the realization of synergies, and sizable free cash flow generation. We expect the company to prioritize debt reduction and for adjusted debt leverage to decline to the 3x area in 2021. NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) May 8, 2020--S&P Global Ratings today took the rating actions listed above. The transaction raises leverage to the mid-3x area from 2x currently. We expect leverage to decline to about 3x in 2021. Longer term, we believe AbbVie will maintain leverage in the 3x range, as the company will likely continue to make moderate sized acquisitions to further broaden its portfolio...
