...- Focus Financial Partners LLC expects to add $500 million onto its first-lien term loan and to draw the entire amount of its $325 million delayed draw term loan to fund an $816 million distribution to shareholders. - We anticipate Focus will maintain high leverage in 2025 as it continues to acquire registered adjustment advisors (RIAs) and the full economics of partner firms. - We lowered our rating on Focus Financial Partners Inc. (Focus) to 'B' from 'B+'. At the same time, we lowered our rating on the company's secured debt to 'B' from 'B+'. Our recovery rating on the company's secured debt remains '3', indicating our expectation for a meaningful (50%) recovery in a simulated default scenario. - The outlook is stable, indicating our expectation that Focus will operate with weighted average adjusted debt to adjusted EBITDA of 6x-8x during the next 12 months, per our calculations, while continuing to acquire wealth managers and the full economics of current partner firms....
