Melco Crown (Macau) Ltd. 'BB' Ratings Affirmed With Negative Outlook; Off CreditWatch Negative

We believe Melco Crown's debt service capability is unlikely to materially weaken following its ultimate parent's proposed debt-funded share purchase. We are affirming our 'BB' long-term corporate credit rating on Melco Crown and our 'BB-' long-term issue rating on the senior unsecured notes that Melco Crown guarantees. At the same time, we are lowering our long-term Greater China regional scale rating on the company to 'cnBB+' from 'cnBBB-' and on the notes to 'cnBB' from 'cnBB+'. We are removing all the ratings from CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications on Dec. 19, 2016. The negative outlook on Melco Crown reflects our expectation that the company's debt service capability could deteriorate over the next 12 months if MCE undertakes

...+ We believe Melco Crown's debt service capability is unlikely to materially weaken following its ultimate parent's proposed debt-funded share purchase. + We are affirming our '##' long-term corporate credit rating on Melco Crown and our '##-' long-term issue rating on the senior unsecured notes that Melco Crown guarantees. + At the same time, we are lowering our long-term Greater China regional scale rating on the company to 'cnBB+' from 'cnBBB-' and on the notes to 'cnBB' from 'cnBB+'. We are removing all the ratings from CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications on Dec. 19, 2016. + The negative outlook on Melco Crown reflects our expectation that the company's debt service capability could deteriorate over the next 12 months if MCE undertakes more investments or shareholder returns than we expect, or if the Melco International group's consolidated credit profile weakens materially. HONG KONG (S&P Global Ratings) Jan. 23, 2017--S&P Global Ratings said today that it...

Ratings Action