New York, December 02, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") assigned
a Corporate Family Rating (CFR) of B2 and Probability of Default Rating
(PDR) of B2-PD to Newport Parent, Inc. (Syncapay)
in connection with the proposed merger transaction and recapitalization
by controlling shareholder Centerbridge Partners. The company's
proposed $500 million first lien credit facilities ($50
million revolver and $450 million term loan) were assigned a rating
of B2. The rating outlook is stable.
"Syncapay's solid niche positions result in good profitability
and cash flow generation" said Peter Krukovsky, Moody's
Senior Analyst. "Near-term revenue softness due to
COVID will cause modestly elevated leverage in early 2021 on a trailing
twelve month basis, but recent business trends support a return
to growth later in the year reducing leverage to about 5.5x."
The following rating actions were taken:
Assignments:
..Issuer: Newport Parent, Inc.
.... Probability of Default Rating,
Assigned B2-PD
.... Corporate Family Rating, Assigned
B2
....Senior Secured 1st Lien Term Loan,
Assigned B2 (LGD3)
....Senior Secured 1st Lien Revolving Credit
Facility, Assigned B2 (LGD3)
Outlook Actions:
..Issuer: Newport Parent, Inc.
....Outlook, Assigned Stable
RATINGS RATIONALE
Syncapay is the product of the pending merger of daVinci Payments and
North Lane Technologies. The company's credit profile reflects
relatively small business scale, high leverage and merger integration
risks. The credit profile is supported by solid competitive positions
in defensible growing niches in the business-to-consumer
payments sector, which benefits from the ongoing secular trend of
replacement of checks with prepaid cards and other forms of electronic
payments. However, the sector is highly competitive with
increasing penetration of push payment services by industry leaders Visa,
Mastercard and PayPal among others. Prior to the coronavirus (COVID)
pandemic, Syncapay's revenue grew in the high single digits.
Profitability is solid on a pro forma basis even before taking into account
merger synergies, and free cash flow is ample at the contemplated
level of financial leverage.
COVID has had an adverse impact on Syncapay's Incentives and Compensation
segments, while the Disbursement business serving stable customer
categories has continued to grow. Moody's regards the coronavirus
outbreak as a social risk under the ESG framework. Softness in
Incentives will likely extend into early 2021 due to the lag effect of
the revenue model, and Compensation is unlikely to recover meaningfully
until 2022. However, strong load volumes in Incentives in
the fall of 2020 and continued stability and growth in Disbursement will
support a return to LTM EBITDA growth by the second half of 2021,
reducing leverage. Moody's expects the company to operate
at Moody's adjusted total leverage of less than 6x in the ordinary course
(synergies on as-realized basis). While an acquisition increasing
debt levels is possible over time, Moody's does not expect
meaningful acquisitions in 2021 as the company focuses on integration
and achievement of synergies.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
The stable outlook reflects Moody's expectation of total leverage sustained
below 6.5x with potential for reduction to 5.5x area by
the end of 2021. The ratings could be upgraded if Syncapay generates
consistent revenue and EBITDA growth, and if Moody's adjusted
total leverage is reduced below 4.5x. The ratings could
be downgraded if Syncapay experiences a sustained revenue or profitability
decline, or if Moody's adjusted total leverage is sustained
above 6.5x.
Syncapay's good liquidity is supported by cash balances of $20
million and a revolving credit facility of $50 million which will
be undrawn at closing. We project free cash flow in 2021 of about
$28 million. The revolving credit facility will contain
a first lien secured leverage covenant of 7.3x with no stepdowns,
applicable only if outstanding balances exceed 35% of the committed
amount. The term loan will contain no financial covenants.
The first lien credit facility is expected to contain covenant flexibility
for transactions that could adversely affect creditors, including
incremental facility capacity, the ability to release a guarantee
when a subsidiary is not wholly owned, and lack of "blocker" restrictions
on collateral leakage through transfer to unrestricted subsidiaries.
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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same series, category/class of debt, security or pursuant
to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing
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issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain
regulatory disclosures in relation to the credit rating action on the
support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action
for securities that derive their credit ratings from the support provider's
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provides certain 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
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affected the rating. For further information please see the ratings
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For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit
support from the primary entity(ies) of this credit rating action,
and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action,
the associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity.
Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
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Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
Moody's general principles for assessing environmental, social
and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1133569.
At least one ESG consideration was material to the credit rating action(s)
announced and described above.
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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Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
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Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Peter Krukovsky
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Lenny J. Ajzenman
Associate Managing Director
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
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JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
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