Morgantown, W.V.-based off-price retailer Mountaineer Merger Corp. (d/b/a Gabe's) is raising a $250 million senior secured first-lien term loan to refinance its existing capital structure and pay a shareholder distribution. We assigned our 'B' issuer credit rating to Gabe's. At the same time, we assigned our 'B' issue-level rating and '3' recovery rating to the proposed $250 million senior secured first-lien term loan due in 2028. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that continued operating momentum will lead to adjusted leverage in the mid-4x area in fiscal 2021. Gabe's competes with much larger off-price retailers that possess sophisticated supply chains with vast and established vendor networks as well as better negotiating leverage with vendors. This greater scale allows the company's
