NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) May 18, 2016--S&P Global Ratings today assigned its 'BBB+' issue-level rating to The Priceline Group Inc.'s proposed U.S. dollar-denominated senior unsecured notes due 2026. The company will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including share repurchases. Pro forma for the debt offering, we expect Priceline to maintain a net cash position with no debt leverage. The debt leverage threshold for our 'BBB+' corporate credit rating on Priceline is 1x. We assess Priceline's financial risk profile as modest, based on the company's net cash position, lack of debt leverage, moderate financial policy, and strong discretionary cash flow generation. These factors are partially are offset by potential travel-disruption-related volatility. We expect the company to maintain its
