...- As Intrum AB (publ) shifts toward a balance-sheet light business model, it has announced the sale of part of its back book to Cerberus for Swedish krona (SEK) 11.5 billion. Although the transaction will lower Intrum's gross debt, it will also weaken leverage by depressing EBITDA generation. - We now expect Intrum's gross debt to cash-adjusted EBITDA to increase to just above 5.0x in 2024 and only gradually decrease in 2025. Intrum's performance metrics could be further hampered if the execution risks associated with the shift in strategy materialize. - As a result, we are lowering to '##-' from '##' our long-term ratings on Intrum and its senior notes and affirming at 'B' our short-term rating on Intrum. The recovery rating on the senior notes is unchanged at '4', indicating our expectation of average recovery (30%-50%, rounded average 40%) in the event of a payment default. - The stable outlook indicates that we expect the company to continue to implement its revised business strategy...
