U.S. cable provider Radiate Holdco LLC plans to finance the $2.365 billion acquisition of WaveDivision Holdings LLC (Wave) with about $1.725 billion in new debt along with additional sponsor equity, resulting in pro forma leverage of about 7x. We are affirming all ratings, including the 'B' corporate credit rating as well as the 'B' issue-level rating on the secured debt, which includes the proposed $1.275 billion incremental term loan and $150 million incremental revolver. The stable outlook reflects our belief that earnings growth driven by increasing high-margin broadband revenue combined with cost reductions related to the acquisition will result in leverage around 6.5x by the end of 2018 compared with our downgrade trigger of 7.5x. On Oct. 30, 2017, S&P
