Research Update: Cleco Corporate Holdings Upgraded To 'BBB' From 'BBB-' On Close Of Sale Of Cleco Cajun LLC, Outlook Stable

On June 4, 2024, Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC (Cleco Corp.) announced that it has completed the sale of its subsidiary Cleco Cajun LLC (Cajun) to Big Pelican LLC and Pelican South Central LLC, affiliates of Atlas Capital Resources IV L.P., for approximately $600 million. As per the agreement, Cleco Corp. will receive approximately $500 million immediately and the remaining $100 million 24 months after closing, before working capital adjustments. Our base case assumes that the proceeds from the sale will be used to reduce debt. Accordingly, S&P Global Ratings raised its issuer credit rating (ICR) on Cleco Corp. to 'BBB' from 'BBB-'. We also raised our ICR on subsidiary Cleco Power LLC (Cleco Power) to 'A-' from 'BBB+'. At the

...- On June 4, 2024, Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC (Cleco Corp.) announced that it has completed the sale of its subsidiary Cleco Cajun LLC (Cajun) to Big Pelican LLC and Pelican South Central LLC, affiliates of Atlas Capital Resources IV L.P., for approximately $600 million. As per the agreement, Cleco Corp. will receive approximately $500 million immediately and the remaining $100 million 24 months after closing, before working capital adjustments. Our base case assumes that the proceeds from the sale will be used to reduce debt. - Accordingly, S&P Global Ratings raised its issuer credit rating (ICR) on Cleco Corp. to '###' from '###-'. We also raised our ICR on subsidiary Cleco Power LLC (Cleco Power) to 'A-' from '###+'. At the same time, we removed the ratings on Cleco Corp. and Cleco Power from CreditWatch, where we placed them with positive implications on Dec. 05, 2023. The outlook is stable. - We raised our issue-level rating on Cleco Power's senior unsecured debt to 'A-' from '###+'...

Research Update