Nuclear reactor component manufacturer BWX Technologies Inc. (BWXT) is issuing new debt to refinance its existing term loans and to provide funds to finance an acquisition and capex. We are assigning our 'BB+' corporate credit rating to BWXT. At the same time we are assigning our 'BB+' issue-level rating and '3' recovery rating to the company's proposed $400 million unsecured notes due 2026. The stable outlook reflects our expectations that credit ratios will deteriorate moderately in 2018 due to the proposed transaction, but then stabilize as growing earnings are offset by the company using excess cash to fund acquisitions and higher capex. We expect FFO-to-debt of 35%-40% and debt to EBITDA around 2x in 2018 and 2019. On May 14,
