Verint Systems has signed a definitive merger agreement with majority owner Comverse Technology, whereby it will be issuing at least $780 million of stock to replace Comverse-held stock. As part of the transaction, expected to close on or about Feb. 1, 2013, the currently outstanding convertible preferred stock will be converted. We are affirming our 'B+' corporate credit and issue ratings on Verint. We are changing the outlook to positive, reflecting our expectation that leverage will drop significantly upon the conversion and elimination of the preferred, which we have treated as debt. On Sept. 19, 2012, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services revised its outlook on Melville, N.Y.-based Verint Systems Inc. to positive from stable. In addition, we affirmed all our
