Research Update: Southwest Gas Holdings Inc. Ratings On CreditWatch Developing On Potential Acquisition By Third Party

Southwest Gas Holdings Inc. (SWX) recently announced that it received an indication of interest to be acquired by a third party that is well above a previous offer. We believe a sale of the company could lead to material deviations from our previous expectations for the combined company's business and financial risk. This includes the possibility of SWX being acquired by a financial sponsor and the potential lowering of our assessment of SWX's financial risk profile. We revised the CreditWatch implications to developing from positive on our 'BBB-' issuer credit rating on SWX and MountainWest Pipeline LLC, our 'BBB' issuer credit rating on Southwest Gas Corp. (SWG), our 'BBB' issue-level rating on SWG's senior unsecured debt, and our 'BBB-' issue-level

...- Southwest Gas Holdings Inc. (SWX) recently announced that it received an indication of interest to be acquired by a third party that is well above a previous offer. - We believe a sale of the company could lead to material deviations from our previous expectations for the combined company's business and financial risk. This includes the possibility of SWX being acquired by a financial sponsor and the potential lowering of our assessment of SWX's financial risk profile. - We revised the CreditWatch implications to developing from positive on our '###-' issuer credit rating on SWX and MountainWest Pipeline LLC, our '###' issuer credit rating on Southwest Gas Corp. (SWG), our '###' issue-level rating on SWG's senior unsecured debt, and our '###-' issue-level rating on MountainWest's senior unsecured debt. We previously placed the ratings on CreditWatch with positive implications on April 1, 2022. - The developing CreditWatch placement reflects the material uncertainty around the ownership...

Research Update