Sunoco L.P. Outlook Revised To Stable From Negative, 'BB-' Rating Affirmed; Senior Secured Debt Rating Raised To 'BB+'

Sunoco L.P. recently provided an update on the sale of its 1,110 retail store locations to buyer 7-Eleven, with the belief that the transaction is in the latter stages of regulatory approval and the expectation of a closing date in January 2018. Sunoco expects gross proceeds from the sale will be about $3.3 billion, which will be used to strengthen the balance sheet. We are affirming our 'BB-' corporate credit rating on the company and revising the outlook to stable from negative. We are raising the issue-level rating on the partnership's senior secured debt to 'BB+' from 'BB', and revising the recovery rating on the debt to '1' from '2'. At the same time, we are affirming the 'B+' issue-level

...+ Sunoco L.P. recently provided an update on the sale of its 1,110 retail store locations to buyer 7-Eleven, with the belief that the transaction is in the latter stages of regulatory approval and the expectation of a closing date in January 2018. + Sunoco expects gross proceeds from the sale will be about $3.3 billion, which will be used to strengthen the balance sheet. + We are affirming our '##-' corporate credit rating on the company and revising the outlook to stable from negative. + We are raising the issue-level rating on the partnership's senior secured debt to '##+' from '##', and revising the recovery rating on the debt to '1' from '2'. At the same time, we are affirming the 'B+' issue-level rating on the partnership's senior unsecured debt. The '5' recovery rating on the debt is unchanged. + The stable outlook reflects our belief that Sunoco will repay a significant portion of debt with the proceeds from the retail asset sale, resulting in improved credit metrics with adjusted...

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