S&P Global Ratings has placed Dun & Bradstreet Corp.'s BB+ issuer credit and issue-level ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications.

The ratings action followed the information services company's announcement to be acquired by an investor group led by CC Capital, Cannae Holdings Inc. and funds affiliated with Thomas H. Lee Partners LP.

The rating agency noted that debt financing for the deal comprises a $400 million senior secured revolving credit facility, a $3.13 billion senior secured term loan facility, a $200 million senior secured 364-day bridge loan facility, and a $850 million senior unsecured bridge loan facility. Further, equity financing contemplates up to $1.94 billion of commitments and up to $1.05 billion of preferred equity.

Depending on S&P's debt treatment of the preferred equity, it expects Dun & Bradstreet's leverage to rise well above 10x from the low 3x area, which could result in a downgrade to the mid- to-low B rating category.

This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings, a separately managed division of S&P Global. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings. The original S&P Global Ratings documents referred to in this news brief can be found here.