NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 18, 2012--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said it assigned its preliminary 'BBB-' senior unsecured debt and 'BB+' subordinated debt ratings to Argo Group US, Inc.'s (AGUS) recently filed debt securities shelf. In addition, we assigned our 'BBB-' senior unsecured debt rating to AGUS' proposed up to $125 million 30-year senior unsecured notes issuance. The ratings on the senior unsecured debt notes reflect the counterparty credit rating on AGUS; the subordinated debt shelf rating reflects subordination to the senior notes as well. We expect the total consolidated financial leverage to remain relatively unchanged following the transaction, given our expectation that management is likely to use the majority of the proceeds of the AGUS senior
