New York, September 23, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") assigned
a B1 rating to Catalent Pharma Solutions, Inc. ("Catalent")
proposed $450 million senior unsecured notes due 2030. There
are no changes to Catalent's existing ratings including the Ba3 Corporate
Family Rating, Ba3-PD Probability of Default Rating,
Ba1 senior secured bank credit facility and SGL-1 Speculative Grade
Liquidity rating. The outlook remains stable.
Proceeds of the offering together with the recent $450 million
term loan will be primarily used to finance the $1 billion acquisition
of Bettera Holdings, LLC (announced on August 30, 2021) and
pay fees and expenses. While the acquisition will increase Catalent's
financial leverage -- a credit negative -- the addition of Bettera
will raise the growth and margin profile of Catalent's Softgel and Oral
Technologies ("SOT") business, which has faced headwinds
since 2020. Further, we expect Catalent's financial leverage
to improve from around 4.5x (pro forma for Bettera) to below 4x
within 12-18 months based on earnings growth and debt repayment.
This incorporates earnings contribution from Bettera.
Assignments:
..Issuer: Catalent Pharma Solutions, Inc.
....Gtd Senior Unsecured Global Notes,
Assigned B1 (LGD5)
RATINGS RATIONALE
Catalent's Ba3 Corporate Family Rating is supported by its track record
of delivering strong revenue and earnings growth. It also reflects
its good size and scale, breadth of service offerings and position
as one of the largest contract development and manufacturing organizations
(CDMOs) globally. The company also maintains a diversified customer
base and commands a large library of patents, know-how,
and other intellectual property that raise barriers to entry and enhance
margins. Increased outsourcing among its pharma clients and rapid
growth in biologics support Moody's expectation for at least high-single
digit earnings growth over the next several years. Near term,
the COVID-19 pandemic has presented opportunities to Catalent;
the company is involved in over 50 programs to develop treatments and
vaccines, including with AstraZeneca and Moderna. Catalent
is meeting growing demand for its services by expanding capacity.
This is supported by a significant increase in capex and an active M&A
policy geared towards building positions in the nascent cell and gene
therapy industry. However, this strategy will weigh on free
cash flow. Further, Moody's expects Catalent to remain acquisitive
which could lead to a temporary increase in leverage. The rating
also reflects the risks inherent in the contract manufacturing industry,
which is highly competitive, and has high reliance on the pharmaceutical
industry.
The stable outlook reflects Moody's expectation that leverage will improve
over the next 12 to 18 months, and that adjusted debt/EBITDA will
generally be maintained in the 3.5x to 4.0x range.
The Speculative Grade Liquidity Rating of SGL-1 reflects Moody's
expectation that Catalent's liquidity will remain very good over the next
12 to 18 months. Catalent's liquidity will be supported by a strong
cash balance ($953 million as of June 30, 2021) and access
to a substantially undrawn $725 million revolving credit facility
that expires in May 2024.
Social and governance considerations are material to Catalent's credit
profile. Like other providers of services for the pharmaceutical
industry, Catalent faces - albeit indirectly - rising
exposure to regulatory and legislative efforts aimed at reducing healthcare
costs and in particular drug prices and reimbursement rates. These
are fueled in part by demographic and societal trends that are pressuring
government budgets because of rising healthcare spending. Turning
to governance, Catalent has pursued a financial policy and capital
allocation policies that balance both creditor and shareholder interests
since its IPO in 2014. While it has increased debt to fund acquisitions,
it has also issued equity to repay debt, which is credit positive.
For example, Catalent issued equity to repay debt in 2018 several
months after the Cook acquisition, and more recently funded the
acquisition of MaSTherCell through equity.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
The ratings could be upgraded if Catalent reduces financial leverage such
that its debt to EBITDA is sustained below 3.5 times. Successful
integration of acquisitions and organic growth that results in increased
scale and improved business line diversity, would also support an
upgrade. Improved free cash flow would also support a higher rating.
The ratings could be downgraded if Moody's expects Catalent's financial
leverage to be sustained above 4.5 times. The ratings could
also be downgraded if Catalent's earnings deteriorate, or if the
current elevated capex strategy fails to generate very strong organic
revenue growth. The ratings could be downgraded if the company
adopts a more aggressive acquisition or shareholder strategy.
Catalent Pharma Solutions, Inc. is a leading contract development
and manufacturing organization (CDMO) company and a global provider of
advanced delivery technologies and development and manufacturing solutions
for drugs; protein, cell, and gene therapy biologics;
and consumer health products. These include the company's formulation,
development and manufacturing of softgels and other products for the prescription
drug and consumer health industries. The company reported revenue
of approximately $4.0 billion in its fiscal year ended June
30, 2021.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Business and Consumer
Service Industry published in October 2016 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1037985.
Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For further specification of Moody's key rating assumptions and
sensitivity analysis, see the sections Methodology Assumptions and
Sensitivity to Assumptions in the disclosure form. Moody's
Rating Symbols and Definitions can be found at: https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_79004.
For ratings issued on a program, series, category/class of
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support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action
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provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the provisional
rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive rating that may
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and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at http://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1288435.
The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was
issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the EU and is endorsed
by Moody's Deutschland GmbH, An der Welle 5, Frankfurt
am Main 60322, Germany, in accordance with Art.4 paragraph
3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on Credit Rating Agencies.
Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the Moody's
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The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was
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Jean-Yves Coupin
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
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Ola Hannoun-Costa
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