U.S.-based global manufacturer and distributor of products, services, and solutions Avantor Inc. intends to raise equity via an IPO over the next several weeks. The company plans to raise net proceeds of $2.889 billion, which could be increased to $3.323 billion, if the greenshoe is exercised. The company will use the proceeds to redeem the preferred shares and repay debt. The junior preferred shares would convert to common equity. With the debt repayment, we believe leverage could decline below 7x by the end of 2019. We are placing all of our ratings, including our 'B' issuer credit rating, on Avantor on CreditWatch with positive implications. We plan to resolve the CreditWatch after the IPO and debt repayment, which we expect
