U.S. silicone and quartz producer Momentive Performance Materials Inc. (MPM) plans to enter into a new $175 million term loan for refinancing. We are affirming all our ratings, including the 'B-' corporate credit rating, on MPM. At the same time, we are revising the outlook to negative from stable. We are also assigning our 'B' issue-level and '2' recovery ratings to MPM's proposed term loan. The negative outlook reflects our view that there is potential for MPM's earnings and cash flow to worsen more than we expect, causing a covenant breach and further deterioration of the financial profile during the next year. On March 20, 2012, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its ratings, including the 'B-' corporate credit rating,
