Research Update: Doosan Bobcat Ratings Placed On CreditWatch Negative On Planned Group Reorganization

On July 11, 2024, Doosan Group announced a reorganization moving its 46% stake in Doosan Bobcat Inc. (DBI) to Doosan Robotics (DR), a different subsidiary of Doosan Group and a sister company of DBI's current parent Doosan Enerbility (DE). Concurrently, the group plans to take DBI private under DR with a stock swap and then merge DBI with DR. S&P Global Ratings believes the transaction may lead to an increased likelihood of negative intervention from the group largely due to the group parent's increased ownership of DBI. Moreover, DBI's stand-alone credit profile may also face some downward pressure on a potential alteration of financial policy and increasing financial burden. We placed our 'BB+' long-term issuer credit rating and issue ratings

...- On July 11, 2024, Doosan Group announced a reorganization moving its 46% stake in Doosan Bobcat Inc. (DBI) to Doosan Robotics (DR), a different subsidiary of Doosan Group and a sister company of DBI's current parent Doosan Enerbility (DE). Concurrently, the group plans to take DBI private under DR with a stock swap and then merge DBI with DR. - S&P Global Ratings believes the transaction may lead to an increased likelihood of negative intervention from the group largely due to the group parent's increased ownership of DBI. Moreover, DBI's stand-alone credit profile may also face some downward pressure on a potential alteration of financial policy and increasing financial burden. - We placed our '##+' long-term issuer credit rating and issue ratings on DBI on CreditWatch with negative implications. - We expect to resolve the CreditWatch status once the transaction is final after evaluating the creditworthiness of DBI, along with the possible degree of the wider group's intervention in...

Research Update