...January 3, 2025 NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) Jan. 3, 2025--S&P Global Ratings today affirmed its 'B' issue- level rating on Frontier Communications Holdings LLC's first-lien debt following the company's announcement that its newly created bankruptcy remote indirect subsidiary priced a $1.5 billion asset-backed delayed draw term loan due 2029. At the same time, we affirmed our '###+' issue-level rating on Frontier's second-lien debt. We believe the company will use the net proceeds from the term loan to support its capital expenditure and the operating costs associated with its fiber expansion plans. The recovery prospects for Frontier's existing lenders are unchanged in our hypothetical default scenario, despite the loss of value from the asset-backed term loan, because we raised our gross default valuation by $725 million. The higher valuation reflects the expansion of the company's fiber footprint to about 50% of its passings, from 35% a couple of years ago, and the healthy penetration...
