Midcontinent Communications Upgraded To 'BB-'; Outlook Stable; $300 Million Senior Notes Rated 'B' (Recovery Rating: 6)

U.S. cable operator Midcontinent Communications and Comcast have agreed to waive their rights to a mutual buy-sell provision until 2020. As part of the agreement, Midcontinent will issue $300 million of senior notes, proceeds of which will fund a distribution to Comcast and Midcontinent Communications Investor LLC. We are raising our corporate credit rating on Midcontinent to 'BB-' from 'B+'. Notwithstanding the increase in leverage to the high-4x area from the low-3x area, the potential dissolution of the partnership will be deferred until at least 2020, which is outside our time horizon for the current rating. We are assigning a 'B' issue-level rating to the $300 million of proposed senior notes and raising the issue-level ratings on Midcontinent's existing secured

...+ U.S. cable operator Midcontinent Communications and Comcast have agreed to waive their rights to a mutual buy-sell provision until 2020. As part of the agreement, Midcontinent will issue $300 million of senior notes, proceeds of which will fund a distribution to Comcast and Midcontinent Communications Investor LLC. + We are raising our corporate credit rating on Midcontinent to '##-' from 'B+'. Notwithstanding the increase in leverage to the high-4x area from the low-3x area, the potential dissolution of the partnership will be deferred until at least 2020, which is outside our time horizon for the current rating. + We are assigning a 'B' issue-level rating to the $300 million of proposed senior notes and raising the issue-level ratings on Midcontinent's existing secured debt to '##' from '##-' and its unsecured debt to 'B' from 'B-'. + The stable rating outlook reflects our expectation that Midcontinent will benefit from growth in high-speed data (HSD) and commercial services, and that...

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