...April 28, 2021 NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) April 28, 2021--S&P Global Ratings said today that Cox Enterprises Inc. has ample cushion in our ratings to absorb the acquisition of Segra's commercial fiber business, funded entirely with cash on the balance sheet (which totaled over $5 billion as of Dec. 31, 2020, including marketable securities). We project that, pro forma for the acquisition, net debt to EBITDA will rise to about 2.6x (including a full year of Segra earnings) from 2.1x at the end of 2020. This places Cox's leverage firmly within the 2.25x-3.25x range for the '###' rating. While we believe the company could approach our upgrade trigger within a year given the predictable mid-single-digit percentage earnings growth in the cable business, we believe it will remain acquisitive. Still, we do not expect Cox to engage in transactions that would increase leverage above our downgrade trigger. Management is committed to the current ratings, with a track record of a relatively conservative...
