Research Update: Cobra Equity Holdco LLC Assigned 'B' Rating; Outlook Negative

Cobra Equity Holdco LLC, the parent of Cobra AcquisitionCo LLC, was established after private equity firm Warburg Pincus acquired Exeter Finance LLC in 2021. Cobra's leverage, as measured by debt to adjusted total equity (ATE), rose to 7.45x as of March 31, 2022, above our previously cited 6.5x threshold for a downgrade, due to a large distribution to the company's private equity owners. We revised our outlook on Cobra AcquisitionCo LLC to negative from stable and affirmed the 'B' issuer credit rating. We also assigned our 'B' issuer credit rating to Cobra Equity Holdco LLC. We affirmed our 'B-' rating on the company's senior unsecured debt, issued by Cobra AcquisitionCo LLC. The negative outlook reflects our expectation that over the

...- Cobra Equity Holdco LLC, the parent of Cobra AcquisitionCo LLC, was established after private equity firm Warburg Pincus acquired Exeter Finance LLC in 2021. - Cobra's leverage, as measured by debt to adjusted total equity (ATE), rose to 7.45x as of March 31, 2022, above our previously cited 6.5x threshold for a downgrade, due to a large distribution to the company's private equity owners. - We revised our outlook on Cobra AcquisitionCo LLC to negative from stable and affirmed the 'B' issuer credit rating. We also assigned our 'B' issuer credit rating to Cobra Equity Holdco LLC. We affirmed our 'B-' rating on the company's senior unsecured debt, issued by Cobra AcquisitionCo LLC. - The negative outlook reflects our expectation that over the next 12 months, the company's leverage could remain above 6.5x....

Research Update