The 'B+' corporate credit rating on Beverly Hills, Ca.-based Live Nation Entertainment Inc. reflects Standard&Poor's Ratings Services' expectation of only a modest recovery in the concert business in 2011 versus 2010's still-recessionary state. We have factored into the rating our base-case forecast of roughly flat revenue and a mid- to high-single-digit EBITDA increase in 2011 due to cost reductions, resulting in a decline in lease-adjusted debt leverage to 5.6x. We assess the company's business profile as fair, based on the company's strong position in the live entertainment and ticketing industries, only partly offset by low EBITDA margins of the concert business and increasing ticketing competition. We view the company's financial profile as highly leveraged because of its high
