New York, March 15, 2012 -- The following release represents Moody's Investors Service's summary
credit opinion on Delphi Financial Group, Inc. and includes
certain regulatory disclosures regarding its ratings. This release
does not constitute any change in Moody's ratings or rating rationale
for Delphi Financial Group, Inc. and its affiliates.
Moody's current ratings on Delphi Financial Group, Inc.
and its affiliates are:
Senior Unsecured (domestic currency) ratings of Baa3, on review
for upgrade
Junior Subordinate (domestic currency) ratings of Ba1(hyb), on review
for upgrade
Senior Unsecured Shelf (domestic currency) ratings of (P)Baa3, on
review for upgrade
Senior Subordinate Shelf (domestic currency) ratings of (P)Ba1,
on review for upgrade
Junior Subordinate Shelf (domestic currency) ratings of (P)Ba1,
on review for upgrade
Preferred Shelf (domestic currency) ratings of (P)Ba2, on review
for upgrade
Preferred shelf -- PS2 (domestic currency) ratings of (P)Ba2,
on review for upgrade
Delphi Funding L.L.C.
BACKED Preferred Shelf (domestic currency) ratings of (P)Ba1, on
review for upgrade
RATINGS RATIONALE
Delphi Financial Group, Inc. (Delphi; NYSE: DFG),
senior debt rated Baa3 (rating on review for possible upgrade),
is a financial services holding company that offers both life and excess
worker's compensation insurance through its U.S. insurance
subsidiaries. The company also provides absence management services
and other integrated employee benefit programs through its wholly-owned
subsidiary, Matrix Absence Management, Inc. (Matrix,
unrated). Delphi's current ratings reflect the established position
of its primary life insurance company, Reliance Standard Life Insurance
Company (RSL, A3 for insurance financial strength (IFS), rating
on review for possible upgrade), in the small-to-medium
size case group employee benefits market, as well as Delphi's ownership
of Safety National Casualty Corporation (Safety National, A3 for
IFS, rating on review for possible upgrade), an excess worker's
compensation insurer for self-insured employers. Partially
offsetting these strengths is the company's modest market presence in
group employee benefits, limited diversification among insurance
products and distribution, and the potential earnings volatility
associated with its excess workers compensation line.
Delphi announced on December 21, 2011 a proposed transaction by
which all of its outstanding stock is to be acquired by Tokio Marine Holdings,
Inc. (Tokio Marine; ultimate parent of Tokio Marine &
Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd, Aa3 IFS rating stable
outlook) in the second quarter of 2012. The acquisition would provide
Delphi and its subsidiaries the benefits of being part of the larger Tokio
Marine group with its greater financial resources and stronger credit
profile.
Delphi's Baa3 senior debt rating is three notches lower than the IFS rating
of RSL, which is typical for US-based insurance groups.
Adjusted financial leverage at the company was at 26.4%
as of December 31, 2010, a level consistent with our expectations.
We expect leverage to be maintained at about the same level at year-end
2011. Liquidity at Delphi is strong in the form of sizeable readily
available liquid assets and the maintenance of a bank credit facility,
which was recently increased to $205 million.
Rating Outlook
On December 21, 2011, Moody's placed on review for possible
upgrade the ratings of Delphi Financial Group, Inc. (Delphi
- NYSE: DFG; senior debt at Baa3) and its wholly-owned
operating companies: Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company (Reliance
Standard, insurance finance strength (IFS) rating at A3) and Safety
National Casualty Corporation (Safety National, IFS rating at A3).
The rating action follows the announcement by Tokio Marine Holdings,
Inc. (ultimate parent of Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance
Co., Ltd, Aa3 IFS stable outlook) of its proposed acquisition
of all the outstanding stock of Delphi for $2.7 billion
in cash in a transaction scheduled to close in the second of 2012,
subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.
What to watch for
- Effect of protracted high unemployment on group sales and workers'
compensation claims
- Performance of non-agency RMBS investment concentration
What Could Change the Rating - Up
The following would place upward pressure on the company's ratings:
- The completion of the Tokio Marine transaction and explicit/implicit
support from the acquirer
- Upgrade of the financial strength rating of life operating company,
Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company, and/or property-casualty
operating company, Safety National Casualty Corp.
- Sustained financial leverage below 30% as well as adequate
cash coverage (around 5x) and holding company liquidity (at least 1x annual
interest and 18 months' maturities)
What Could Change the Rating - Down
Given the rating is on review for possible upgrade, it is unlikely
the rating will downgraded in the near term. However, the
following could potentially lead to the ratings being confirmed at their
current rating level:
- The Tokio Marine transaction does not proceed as planned;
support is modest; plans for integrating Delphi are limited,
- Delphi's financial performance weakens
The methodologies used in these ratings were Moody's Global Rating
Methodology for Life Insurers published in May 2010 and Moody's
Global Rating Methodology for Property and Casualty Insurers published
in May 2010. Please see the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of these methodologies.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
Although these credit ratings have been issued in a non-EU country
which has not been recognized as endorsable at this date, the credit
ratings are deemed "EU qualified by extension" and may still
be used by financial institutions for regulatory purposes until 30 April
2012. Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the
Moody's office that has issued a particular Credit Rating is available
on www.moodys.com.
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.
Information sources used to prepare each of the ratings are the following:
parties involved in the ratings, public information, and confidential
and proprietary Moody's Investors Service information.
Moody's considers the quality of information available on the rated
entities, obligations or credits satisfactory for the purposes of
issuing these ratings.
Moody's adopts all necessary measures so that the information it
uses in assigning the ratings is of sufficient quality and from sources
Moody's considers to be reliable including, when appropriate,
independent third-party sources. However, Moody's
is not an auditor and cannot in every instance independently verify or
validate information received in the rating process.
Please see the ratings disclosure page on www.moodys.com
for general disclosure on potential conflicts of interests.
Please see the ratings disclosure page on www.moodys.com
for information on (A) MCO's major shareholders (above 5%)
and for (B) further information regarding certain affiliations that may
exist between directors of MCO and rated entities as well as (C) the names
of entities that hold ratings from MIS that have also publicly reported
to the SEC an ownership interest in MCO of more than 5%.
A member of the board of directors of this rated entity may also be a
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Please see Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions on the Rating
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the meaning of each rating category and the definition of default and
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Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for the last rating action and the rating history. The date on
which some ratings were first released goes back to a time before Moody's
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Consequently, Moody's provides a date that it believes is
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for further information.
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.
Neil Strauss
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Robert Riegel
MD - Insurance
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Moody's Disclosures on Credit Ratings of Delphi Financial Group, Inc.