Cleco Corp. And Subsidiary Cleco Power Still On CreditWatch Developing Pending Final Review Of Acquisition Details

The Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) approved an investor consortium's acquisition of U.S. regulated utility Cleco Corp. for about $4.7 billion. We are leaving unchanged the CreditWatch developing listing for our 'BBB+' corporate credit ratings on Cleco Corp. and its subsidiary Cleco Power LLC, and the 'BBB+' senior unsecured debt rating on Cleco Power, pending final review of the transaction details, including the LPSC's final order. We expect the final order to be made available during April 2016. The developing CreditWatch listing means we could raise, affirm, or lower the ratings. The listing reflects the high potential that we could lower the ratings on Cleco Corp. in the very near term pending the completion of our review of the final

...+ The Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) approved an investor consortium's acquisition of U.S. regulated utility Cleco Corp. for about $4.7 billion. + We are leaving unchanged the CreditWatch developing listing for our '###+' corporate credit ratings on Cleco Corp. and its subsidiary Cleco Power LLC, and the '###+' senior unsecured debt rating on Cleco Power, pending final review of the transaction details, including the LPSC's final order. We expect the final order to be made available during April 2016. + The developing CreditWatch listing means we could raise, affirm, or lower the ratings. + The listing reflects the high potential that we could lower the ratings on Cleco Corp. in the very near term pending the completion of our review of the final transaction details, which are likely to pressure the company's financial risk profile. We expect to affirm the ratings on Cleco Power if the transaction proceeds as outlined in the company's latest filings, but remain on CreditWatch...

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