U.S.-based restaurant company Inspire Brands Inc., the parent company of IRB Holding Corp., has entered into an agreement to acquire quick-service restaurant chain Sonic Corp. (unrated) for a total consideration of approximately $2.3 billion, including the assumption of Sonic's net debt, which includes a rated securitization by Sonic Capital LLC. We believe that the transaction could meaningfully increase IRB's leverage. Therefore, we are placing all of our ratings on IRB, including our 'B' issuer credit rating, on CreditWatch with negative implications. The CreditWatch placement indicates that we could lower our ratings on IRB after evaluating the business and financial impact of the transaction, the financing details, and management's financial policies. On Sept. 27, 2018, S&P Global Ratings placed all of
