A.M. Best Assigns Rating to Ameriprise Financial's Senior Note Offering.OLDWICK, N.J. -- A.M. Best Co. has assigned a debt rating of "a-" to Ameriprise Financial Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE: AMP) is a company offering financial advice and products. It is the successor to American Express Financial Advisors (AEFA), which was a subsidiary of the American Express Company. , Inc.'s (Ameriprise) (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :AMP) (Minneapolis, MN) announced issuance of $1.5 billion in senior unsecured notes to be drawn down from the $1.7 billion shelf registration recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The financial strength and issuer credit ratings of Ameriprise's life insurance subsidiaries are unchanged. The outlook for all ratings is negative. A.M. Best expects Ameriprise will offer its senior unsecured and unsubordinated notes in two tranches Tranches A piece, portion or slice of a deal or structured financing. This portion is one of several related securities that are offered at the same time but have different risks, rewards and/or maturities. "Tranche" is the French word for "slice". with offer pricing and yields to be based upon market demand. The proceeds from these offerings are to be used, in part, to refinance Refinance 1. When a business or person revises their payment schedule for repaying debt. 2. Replacing an older loan with a new loan offering better terms. Notes: When a business refinances they typically extend the maturity date. the $1.35 billion, 364-day bridge facility, which was used to replace the company's inter-company debt payable to American Express American Express (NYSE: AXP), sometimes known as "AmEx" or "Amex", is a diversified global financial services company, headquartered in New York City. The company is best known for its credit card, charge card and traveler's cheque businesses. Company (AXP The brand name Digital gave to its first family of Alpha-based computers. In 1998, Digital was acquired by Compaq. See Alpha. ) at the time of the spin-off as well as for general corporate purposes. Ameriprise's debt-to-capital ratio remains consistent at approximately 17%. A.M. Best expects its debt-to-capital ratio to remain constant in the near to medium term. A.M. Best also believes that future earnings will provide strong debt service coverage and enable capital to remain fairly constant. The negative outlook reflects A.M. Best's belief that there are still inherent risks associated with re-branding the enterprise, the successful execution of the plans to separate its operations from AXP and the challenges to maintain appropriate capitalization levels for the current ratings. For Best's Ratings Best's rating A rating A.M. Best Co. assigns to insurance companies based on the company's ability to meet its obligations to its policyholders. , an overview of the rating process and rating methodologies, please visit www.ambest.com/ratings. For current Best's Ratings, independent data and analysis on more than 1,100 individual life/health companies and A.M. Best groups, please visit www.ambest.com/lh. A.M. Best Co., established in 1899, is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit A.M. Best's Web site at www.ambest.com. |
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