British Telecommunications Remains On S&P CreditWatch.LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Standard & Poor's CreditWire 11/11/97 -- Standard & Poor's today announced that the triple-'A' long-term Long-term Three or more years. In the context of accounting, more than 1 year. long-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss in the value of a security that has been held over a specific length of time. Compare short-term. senior unsecured Unsecured A loan or equity interest that is given without any guarantee of payment, performance, satisfaction or opportunity for return from the recipient. No property, interest or security is used as collateral in either a guarantee or a pledge. and corporate credit ratings on British Telecommunications Communicating information, including data, text, pictures, voice and video over long distance. See communications. PLC (BT) will remain on CreditWatch where they were placed Nov. 4, 1996 when the company announced its intention to merge with MCI Communications This article is about MCI before it merged with WorldCom. For other uses, see MCI. MCI Communications was an American telecommunications company that was instrumental in legal and regulatory changes that led to the breakup of the AT&T monopoly of American telephony and Corp. (MCI (1) (Media Control Interface) A high-level programming interface from Microsoft and IBM for controlling multimedia devices. It provides commands and functions to open, play and close the device. (2) (Microwave Communications Inc. ). The recent announcement that MCI has reached a merger agreement with WorldCom and that BT has therefore abandoned its plans to merge with MCI removes the reason for the initial placement of BT's ratings on CreditWatch. In addition, BT is expected to receive US$7.5 billion in cash for its 20% stake in MCI and for related expenses. The ratings, however, remain on CreditWatch with negative implications pending the forthcoming review by Standard & Poor's of several factors. In particular, Standard & Poor's will need to reassess reassess Verb to reconsider the value or importance of reassessment n Verb 1. reassess - revise or renew one's assessment reevaluate the ratings in view of BT's more aggressive financial policy and its increasingly competitive core U.K. market. While the US$7.5 billion will considerably strengthen the company's capital structure in the short-term, BT had previously announced its intention to increase its leverage. Therefore, it is uncertain at this point whether the sale proceeds will be used to reduce debt, be reinvested or given back to shareholders. In addition, Standard & Poor's will need to review BT's new business strategy following the cancellation of its merger plans with MCI. Standard & Poor's expects to meet with BT's management in the near future in order to resolve the CreditWatch listing. BT's 'A-1'-plus short-term rating is not on CreditWatch, Standard & Poor's said. -- CreditWire CONTACT: Juan Jose Garcia Jose Garcia / José García is a common name that can refer to:
Copyright 1997, Standard & Poor's Rating Services http://www.ratings.standardpoor.com |
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