The spread of coronavirus in the U.S. has reduced consumer and marketing spending, and we expect these trends will continue over the next year due to the economic contraction stemming from social distancing measures. We are lowering our issuer credit rating on Red Ventures Holdco L.P. to 'B+' from 'BB-' because we believe the company's affiliates and business partners will likely pull back marketing spending as consumers reduce discretionary spending, causing leverage to increase above 6x in 2020 from 4.4x in 2019. The negative outlook reflects the uncertainty around the extent and duration of COVID-19's impact on the economy and Red Ventures' operating performance and the risk that a prolonged economic downturn could cause net leverage to remain above 5.5x
