Bulletin: Cleco Corp. Ratings Still On CreditWatch Negative After Regulatory Filing Related To Acquisition

NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Jan. 12, 2016--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its 'BBB+' issuer credit ratings on Pineville, La.-based Cleco Corp. and Cleco Power LLC and the 'BBB+' senior unsecured debt rating on Cleco Power remain on CreditWatch with negative implications. We placed the ratings on CreditWatch negative on Oct. 21, 2014, after Cleco announced an agreement to be purchased for about $4.7 billion by an investment consortium headed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets and British Columbia Investment Management Corp., with John Hancock Financial and other infrastructure investors. The company recently filed post-hearing briefs with the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) that address issues that the LPSC staff raised during a hearing before an administrative

...NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) Jan. 12, 2016--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that its '###+' issuer credit ratings on Pineville, La.-based Cleco Corp. and Cleco Power LLC and the '###+' senior unsecured debt rating on Cleco Power remain on CreditWatch with negative implications. We placed the ratings on CreditWatch negative on Oct. 21, 2014, after Cleco announced an agreement to be purchased for about $4.7 billion by an investment consortium headed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets and British Columbia Investment Management Corp., with John Hancock Financial and other infrastructure investors. The company recently filed post-hearing briefs with the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) that address issues that the LPSC staff raised during a hearing before an administrative law judge that began on Nov. 9, 2015. Regulatory approval of the transaction is still pending, and we will resolve the CreditWatch when the transaction closes, now expected by mid-2016. The...

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