...+ Concord, Ont.-based Kronos Acquisition Holdings Inc. announced the acquisition agreement to acquire N.C. Brands L.P. and NCI Holdings Inc. for approximately US$170 million; the acquisition will be fully debt funded and we expect credit measures to deteriorate following the acquisition. + Specifically, we expect S&P Global Ratings-adjusted debt-to-EBITDA to remain elevated at 9.0x-9.5x and interest coverage to be in the low-1x area in 2019. We view the company's capital structure to be unsustainable in the long term. + As a result, on Dec. 27, 2018, we lowered our issuer credit rating on Kronos to '###+' from 'B-'. + We also lowered our issue-level rating on the company's senior secured term loan to '###+' from 'B-'. The '3' recovery rating on the debt is unchanged. In addition, we lowered our issue-level rating on company's senior unsecured notes to '###-' from '###'. The '6' recovery rating on the notes is unchanged. + The stable outlook reflects our expectation that, despite high leverage...
