On Oct. 4, 2007, Standard&Poor's Rating Services lowered its corporate credit rating on Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Live Nation Inc. to 'B' from 'B+'. We analyze the company on a consolidated basis with its operating subsidiary, Live Nation Worldwide Inc. The downgrade reflects our concerns over high lease-adjusted leverage, despite improved operating performance in the second quarter, and our expectation that the company will not be able to achieve our intermediate-term target lease-adjusted debt, plus preferred stock and four-quarter-average letters of credit, to EBITDA ratio of less than 5x by year-end. The company's credit profile hasn't improved according to our original expectations, as Live Nation has been in a rebuilding and acquisition period that we believe will continue for
