Fitch Revises Scottish Re's Rating Watch to Evolving.CHICAGO -- Fitch today revised the Rating Watch on Scottish Re Group Ltd.'s (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :SCT Sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT) A tumor occurring at the base of the fetus's tailbone. Mentioned in: Prenatal Surgery ) ratings to Evolving from Negative, following notification that SCT has successfully amended the bank agreement which allows the transfer of funds from affiliate Scottish Annuity & Life Insurance (Cayman) Ltd. (SALIC) to SCT. On Monday funds are expected to be transferred to the trustee to repay $115 million of senior convertible notes that are expected to be put to the company on Dec. 6, 2006. This notification satisfies Fitch's most immediate near-term concern. The ratings being placed on Rating Watch Evolving reflects the pending agreement with MassMutual Capital Partners LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control and Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., which is expected to result in a new equity investment into the company of $600 million. Fitch expects to review SCT's financial profile as well as business prospects and franchise upon the successful close of the agreement. While Fitch views the agreement and the potential $600 million investment positively, SCT continues to face business and operating challenges and uncertainties, including the outcome of the shareholder vote. As such, the Rating Watch could be revised positively or negatively or the ratings could be affirmed with a Stable Outlook as the process develops. The following ratings were placed on Rating Watch Evolving from Rating Watch Negative: Scottish Annuity & Life Insurance Company (Cayman) Limited --IFS at 'BBB'. Scottish Re (U.S.) Inc. --IFS at 'BBB'. Scottish Re Limited --IFS at 'BBB'. Scottish Re Group Limited --Issuer Default Rating (IDR IDR In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Indonesian Rupiah. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. ) at 'BB'; --4.5% US$115 million senior convertible notes at 'BB-'; --5.875% US$142 million hybrid capital units at 'B+'; --7.25% US$125 million non-cumulative perpetual preferred stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders. Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate. at 'B+'. Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion