UnitedHealth Group Inc. Senior Notes Rated ?A+?

NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) Dec. 15, 2016--S&P Global Ratings said today that it assigned its 'A+' issue-level ratings to UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s (UNH) proposed senior unsecured notes in 10 and 30 year maturities. We expect the debt issuance to be leverage neutral. According to the company, UNH will use debt proceeds to pay down its commercial paper balance and prefund the repayment of $750 million in floating rate notes maturing in January 2017. We expect UNH's reported debt-to-capital ratio to be about 46% by year-end 2016 and 40% by year-end 2017. The transaction does not affect our 'A+' counterparty credit rating on UnitedHealth Group Inc. The outlook remains negative based on the potential for a downgrade if the company

...NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) Dec. 15, 2016--S&P Global Ratings said today that it assigned its 'A+' issue-level ratings to UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s (UNH) proposed senior unsecured notes in 10 and 30 year maturities. We expect the debt issuance to be leverage neutral. According to the company, UNH will use debt proceeds to pay down its commercial paper balance and prefund the repayment of $750 million in floating rate notes maturing in January 2017. We expect UNH's reported debt-to-capital ratio to be about 46% by year-end 2016 and 40% by year-end 2017. The transaction does not affect our 'A+' counterparty credit rating on UnitedHealth Group Inc. The outlook remains negative based on the potential for a downgrade if the company is unable to deliver to about 40% by year-end 2017. The company recently confirmed its commitment to meeting this target at its annual investor conference. UNH's delevering plan is based on repaying 2017 debt ($2.7 billion in debt matures from June 2017 through...

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