...April 24, 2020 TORONTO (S&P Global Ratings) April 24, 2020--S&P Global Ratings said today it assigned its '###-' issue-level rating to Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.'s (TSX:FFH; ###-/Stable/--) 4.625% 650 million senior unsecured notes due 2030. We expect a portion of the proceeds will be used to repay debt under the company's credit facility, and any remaining amounts will pay down certain debt outstanding and be used for general corporate purposes. This new issuance will result in a net modest increase in debt. On a pro forma basis as of 2019 year-end, financial leverage (excluding nonrecourse debt) will increase to 35% from 33%. Due to the company's net losses in first-quarter 2020, we expect this ratio will further increase by 2-3 percentage points. For full-year 2020, the fixed-charge coverage ratio could be below 4x due to potential lower earnings, but we still expect a coverage ratio of above 4x in 2021 and later. In our leverage calculations, we have not included the amount outstanding...
