S&P Global ratings downgraded Invesco Ltd.'s issuer credit rating to BBB+ from A.

The outlook is stable.

The downgrade, according to the rating agency, reflects its expectation that Invesco's leverage will rise to the low-2x area as a result of its announced acquisition of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.'s asset management affiliate, OppenheimerFunds Inc.

The rating agency also downgraded its issue rating on Invesco's senior unsecured notes to BBB+ from A and assigned a BBB- rating to the company's proposed perpetual preferred stock.

Also, Fitch Ratings affirmed Invesco and unit Invesco Finance PLC's long-term issuer default ratings and unsecured debt ratings of A, following the announcement of the deal.

The rating outlook is positive.

The rating affirmation, according to Fitch, reflects its view that the announced transaction is credit-neutral to Invesco's ratings in the short term, taking into account increased scale, diversity and earnings generation capacity of the combined platform and improved leverage and interest coverage, among other things.

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.