Mashantucket term loan rated Caa1 by Moody's after maturity extension

Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation's term loan B was rated Caa1 today by Moody's. The loan's maturity was recently extended by one year to Feb. 16, 2022, from Feb. 16, 2021. Moody's rating action did not affect Mashantucket's Ca corporate family rating and negative outlook.

The rating agency noted that roughly $255 million of the original $275 million term loan B was outstanding at year-end 2020. Moody's added that the company's other outstanding debt, roughly $1.8 billion of junior note principal and accrued interest, is not rated.

Moody's said the corporate family rating takes into account that Mashantucket is operating under a forbearance, given that it has been blocked by senior lenders from making debt service payments on the junior debt. Moody's anticipates that Mashantucket will "ultimately go through a debt restructuring that will involve some level of impairment to creditors."

Earlier in February, the term loan B was upgraded by S&P Global Ratings to CCC-, from D. Mashantucket's Selective Default, or SD, issuer rating was left unchanged.

The Mashantucket Tribe owns the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.