London, 24 September 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service has today assigned a provisional (P)Ba2 long-term
rating to the proposed issuance of Subordinated Perpetual Capital Securities
(the "Hybrid") by ArcelorMittal S.A. The outlook is negative,
in line with that of ArcelorMittal's Baa3 senior unsecured issuer
rating. The size and completion of the Hybrid remain subject to market conditions.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The rating of (P)Ba2 is two notches below ArcelorMittal's senior
unsecured rating of Baa3, reflecting the features of the Hybrid.
The instrument is undated, very deeply subordinated and ArcelorMittal
can opt to defer coupons on a cumulative basis.
Moody's issues provisional ratings in advance of the final sale of securities
and these ratings reflect Moody's preliminary credit opinion regarding
the transaction only. Upon a conclusive review of the final documentation,
Moody's will endeavour to assign a definitive rating to the Hybrid.
A definitive rating may differ from a provisional rating.
As the Hybrid rating is positioned relative to another rating of ArcelorMittal,
a change in either (i) Moody's relative notching practice or (ii) the
Baa3 senior unsecured rating of ArcelorMittal, which carries a negative
outlook, could affect the Hybrid rating. The guidance given
in the Announcement published on 2 August 2012 still applies.
PRINCIPAL METHODOLOGY
The principal methodology used in rating ArcelorMittal S.A.
was the Global Steel Industry Methodology published in January 2009.
Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for
a copy of this methodology.
ArcelorMittal is the world's largest steel company. It operates
approximately 65 integrated and minimill steel-making facilities
in over 20 countries, which have a production capacity of around
125 million tonnes of crude steel per year. The company also has
sizable captive supplies of iron ore and coal and a trading and distribution
network. Over the last 12 months, the company shipped 86
million tonnes of steel and had sales of $92 billion.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the
support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive
rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt,
in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed
prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would
have affected the rating. For further information please see the
ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
The rating has been disclosed to the rated entity or its designated agent(s)
and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure.
Information sources used to prepare the rating are the following :
parties involved in the ratings, parties not involved in the ratings,
public information, and confidential and proprietary Moody's
Investors Service information.
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a rating.
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uses in assigning a rating is of sufficient quality and from sources Moody's
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for the last rating action and the rating history.
The date on which some ratings were first released goes back to a time
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Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued
the rating.
Steven P Oman
Senior Vice President
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5FA
United Kingdom
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Olivier Beroud
MD - Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5FA
United Kingdom
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Moody's assigns (P)Ba2 rating to proposed hybrid security of ArcelorMittal; Baa3 sr.unsec'd rating, negative outlook