Bulletin: Comcast Ratings Unchanged By Withdrawal From Fox Bidding War; Remain On CreditWatch Negative

NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) July 19, 2018--S&P Global Ratings said today that its ratings and outlook on Comcast Corp. remain on CreditWatch with negative implications following the company's announcement that it does not intend to pursue further the acquisition of the Twenty-First Century Fox assets and, instead, will focus on acquiring Sky plc. Comcast's current £14.75/share bid for Sky is higher than Fox's £14.00/share offer. If Comcast were to successfully acquire 100% of Sky at the £14.75 price, we would expect Comcast's adjusted leverage to rise to about 3.25x, which is above the 3x threshold for the 'A-' current rating. However, we believe the company could quickly reduce leverage below 3x within a year of closing the acquisition. The

...NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) July 19, 2018--S&P Global Ratings said today that its ratings and outlook on Comcast Corp. remain on CreditWatch with negative implications following the company's announcement that it does not intend to pursue further the acquisition of the Twenty-First Century Fox assets and, instead, will focus on acquiring Sky plc. Comcast's current ú14.75/share bid for Sky is higher than Fox's ú14.00/share offer. If Comcast were to successfully acquire 100% of Sky at the ú14.75 price, we would expect Comcast's adjusted leverage to rise to about 3.25x, which is above the 3x threshold for the 'A-' current rating. However, we believe the company could quickly reduce leverage below 3x within a year of closing the acquisition. The rating remains on CreditWatch until we have greater clarity on the final terms because Fox remains an active bidder and may make a higher bid for Sky. Only a rating committee may determine a rating action and this report does not constitute a rating...

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