...May 9, 2023 NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) May 9, 2023--S&P Global Ratings today assigned its 'A-' issue-level rating to Norwalk, Conn.-based Booking Holdings Inc.'s proposed euro-denominated senior unsecured notes. The company intends to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including share repurchases. The notes will rank pari passu with the company's existing senior unsecured notes. The issue-level rating is the same as our 'A-' issuer credit rating on Booking. All of our ratings on Booking are unchanged because its leverage remains well within our 1.5x downgrade threshold over the next two years. We believe Booking will maintain its conservative financial policy despite its plan to gradually move to positive net leverage of about 1x over time versus historical negative net leverage. As of March 31, 2023, the company had approximately $11.3 billion of debt outstanding. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that travel demand and volume growth will persist this year, supporting...
