We published our revised Recovery Rating Criteria on Dec. 7, 2016. As a result, we are lowering our issue-level rating on Cogeco Communications Inc.'s senior secured debt to 'BBB-' from 'BBB'. Our '1' recovery rating on the debt is unchanged, indicating our expectation of very high (90%-100%) recovery for lenders in a default scenario. We now typically cap issue-level ratings for speculative-grade issuers at 'BBB-', regardless of our recovery rating. We are also affirming our 'BB-' issue-level rating, with a '6' recovery rating, on the company's senior unsecured notes. A '6' recovery rating indicates our expectation of negligible (0%-10%) recovery for noteholders in the event of default. At the same time, we are removing the ratings from under criteria observation
