Cleco Corp. Liquidity Assessment Revised To Strong; 'BBB-' Rating Affirmed

We are revising our liquidity assessment on Pineville, La.-based utility company Cleco Corp. to strong from adequate. We are affirming our 'BBB-' corporate credit rating on Cleco, our 'BBB-' issue-level rating on its senior unsecured debt and on the remaining balance of Cleco's senior unsecured term-loan due in 2019. Our revised liquidity assessment follows recent refinancing of Cleco's bank loan facility, replacing about $1 billion in short-tenor bank loans with longer-term maturity debt. The stable outlook for Cleco reflects our expectation that it will continue to focus on its lower-risk regulated utility operations and on managing regulatory risk amid the change in ownership, including our expectations for stable financial measures that continue to support the company's stand-alone credit profile. NEW

...+ We are revising our liquidity assessment on Pineville, La.-based utility company Cleco Corp. to strong from adequate. + We are affirming our '###-' corporate credit rating on Cleco, our '###-' issue-level rating on its senior unsecured debt and on the remaining balance of Cleco's senior unsecured term-loan due in 2019. + Our revised liquidity assessment follows recent refinancing of Cleco's bank loan facility, replacing about $1 billion in short-tenor bank loans with longer-term maturity debt. + The stable outlook for Cleco reflects our expectation that it will continue to focus on its lower-risk regulated utility operations and on managing regulatory risk amid the change in ownership, including our expectations for stable financial measures that continue to support the company's stand-alone credit profile. NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) June 1, 2016--S&P Global Ratings said today it affirmed its '###-' issuer credit rating on Cleco Corp., our '###-' issue-level rating on its senior unsecured...

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