Acetex's B2 sr notes assigned B2 rating, 3 others upgraded

26 July 2001 03:29  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (CNI)--Canada's Acetex Corp's proposed $190m (Euro216m) debt securities issue has been assigned a B2 rating and three of the company's other debt ratings have been upgraded by Moody's, CNI learned on Thursday.

The three upgraded ratings are:

• senior implied, to B2 from B3
• issuer rating, to B3 from Caa2
• $180m senior secured notes, due 2003, to B2 from B3

Acetex proposes to use the proceeds from the issue of the senior secured notes to refinance existing senior secured notes.

Moody's reached its decisions based on Acetex's high leverage, product concentration on acetic acid and vinyl acetate monomer (VCM), competition from larger companies, access to raw materials and a weak balance sheet.

The ratings also reflect Acetex's customer concentration, with just two customers, Rhodia and AtoFina, accounting for 30% of 2000 sales.

Last week, Acetex announced that its Q2 2001 net income declined by 22% to $3.8m from the first quarter of last year, although sales of acetic acid and derivative products increased 3% to $57.2m.

Acetex, which is 60% owned by the public and 40% by its management, acquired its assets from Rhodia in 1995. It operates plants in France and Spain.

By: Siraj Syed
+65 6780 4359

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