New York, September 18, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) assigned a B3 rating to
the prospective $405 million term loan B of LEB Holdings (USA),
Inc. (aka Barrette Outdoor Living). In addition, Moody's
assigned a B2 corporate family rating and a B2-PD probability of
default rating to Barrette. The outlook is stable.
The proceeds from the term loan will be used in conjunction with $297
million of cash equity from sponsors, TorQuest Partners and Caisse
de Dépôt et Placement du Québec ("CDPQ"),
and $57 million of management and existing ownership rollover equity
to acquire Barrette Outdoor Living for a total purchase price of $759
million. The company is also entering into a $75 million
asset-based revolving credit facility due 2025 which will be unrated.
This is the first time Moody's has assigned ratings to Barrette.
Assignments:
Issuer: LEB Holdings (USA), Inc.
Corporate Family Rating, Assigned B2
Probability of Default Rating, Assigned B2-PD
$405 million Senior Secured Term Loan due 2027, Assigned
B3 (LGD4)
Outlook Actions:
Issuer: LEB Holdings (USA), Inc.
Outlook, Assigned Stable
RATINGS RATIONALE
Barrette Outdoor Living's B2 corporate family rating reflects favorable
fundamentals that support investment in home improvement, including
the desire to increase home values. We expect the overall building
products sector to continue to benefit from a shift in consumers'
discretionary spending to home improvement over the next twelve months
as many employees continue to regularly work from home as a result of
the coronavirus pandemic. Approximately 85% of Barrette's
revenues are derived from the repair and remodel segment, where
demand tends to be less volatile through market cycles as compared with
new housing construction. The rating also reflects solid credit
metrics, including pro forma adjusted Debt/EBITDA of 4.6x
and adjusted EBITA/Interest Expense of 3.6x for the twelve month
period ended June 30, 2020.
These factors are counterbalanced by the company's reliance on The
Home Depot and Lowe's, which collectively represent just under
half of the company's revenues. While Barrette holds a dominant
market position in Home Depot and Lowe's, these retailers
are high-volume purchasers with strong bargaining power,
which could negatively impact the company's sales volumes or margins.
Moody's ratings also consider Barrette's exposure to new housing
construction, where demand tends to be more volatile through cycles.
Barrette's liquidity is expected to be good over the next 12 to
18 months and considers the company's positive free cash flow of
approximately $32 million in 2021. Liquidity is supported
by a new $75 million asset-based revolver due in 2025 that
will be undrawn at the close of the transaction. The revolver is
subject to a 1.0x springing fixed charge covenant that is tested
when availability falls below the greater of 10% or $7.5
million, which Moody's does not expect the company to trigger
over the next 12-18 months. Alternative sources of liquidity
are limited as the majority of the company's assets are encumbered
by secured debt.
Moody's expects Barrette to maintain a measured approach to its
financial policy and not aggressively increase leverage. The company
is not expected to pay out a regular distribution to its equity sponsors,
with excess capital likely reinvested back into the business or used for
future tack-on acquisitions.
The stable outlook reflects Moody's expectations of stable demand
within the repair and remodel segment of housing as well as Barrette's
maintenance of good liquidity.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
The ratings could be upgraded should adjusted debt to EBITDA be maintained
below 5.0x and EBITA to interest coverage is maintained above 3.0x
while maintaining good liquidity. A ratings upgrade would also
be predicated on an increase in scale, while reducing the company's
concentration with The Home Depot and Lowe's. Stable end market
conditions would also be an important consideration for a ratings upgrade.
Ratings could be downgraded if adjusted debt-to-EBITDA approaches
6.0x, interest coverage declines below 2.0x,
the company's financial strategy becomes aggressive or liquidity
deteriorates.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Manufacturing Methodology
published in March 2020 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1206079.
Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
Barrette Outdoor Living, headquartered in Ohio, is a leading
manufacturer and distributor of wood-alternative fence and railing,
with a growing presence in decking and other outdoor living products.
For the twelve months ended June 30, 2020, the company generated
approximately $574 million in revenue.
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
debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures
in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the
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
credit rating. For provisional ratings, this announcement
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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and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action,
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review.
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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.
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for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Griselda Bisono
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
Dean Diaz
Associate Managing Director
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Releasing Office:
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