Standard & Poor's Ratings Services affirmed 's BB- corporatecredit rating, with anegative outlook.
The rating agency also assigned a BB+ issue-level rating anda 1 recovery rating to the company's proposed senior secured credit facility, comprisinga $400 million revolver due 2021, a $185 million term loan A due 2021 and a $350million term loan B due2022.
While S&P said March 30 that it expects a "very high"recovery for lenders in the event of default, the negative outlook reflects therating agency's belief that Pinnacle will continue to have weak leverage over thenext year relative to the 5.25x leverage threshold at which S&P would considerlowering the company's ratings.
S&P Ratings and S&PGlobal Market Intelligence are owned by McGraw Hill Financial Inc.