...April 6, 2020 NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) April 6, 2020--S&P Global Ratings today assigned its 'A' issue-level rating to Deerfield, Ill.-based Caterpillar Inc.'s proposed senior unsecured notes. We expect the company to issue the notes in two tranches, one with a 10-year maturity and one with a 30-year maturity. The notes will rank equally with all of Caterpillar's existing and future unsecured obligations. The transaction does not materially affect the company's credit measures because we expect that it will earmark most of the the net proceeds for debt repayment given its $1.4 billion of outstanding notes maturing in 2021. All of our ratings on Caterpillar, including our 'A/A-1' issuer credit rating, remain unchanged. Although we believe challenging end-market demand conditions will significantly reduce Caterpillar's revenue and earnings in 2020, the company's credit measures should remain appropriate for the current rating despite some near term pressure. Specifically, Caterpillar's...
