Mallinckrodt plc is separating into an independent entity from former parent Covidien plc. Mallinckrodt will be paying a $730 million debt-financed dividend to Covidien plc. We are assigning a 'BBB-' corporate credit rating to Mallinckrodt plc. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that modest revenue growth and a conservative financial policy would result in free cash flow generation and that leverage would be sustained at less than 2.5x. On March 18, 2013, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'BBB-' corporate credit rating to Ireland-based Mallinckrodt plc. The rating on Mallinckrodt reflects our belief that the company has an intermediate financial risk profile, evidenced by pro forma leverage of 2.6x and funds from operations to total debt of 35%. It
