New York, September 20, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) assigned a Ba3 rating to Goodyear
Europe B.V.'s proposed Euro 300 million senior unsecured
guaranteed notes. Parent company The Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Company's (Goodyear) existing ratings, including the B1 corporate
family rating, the B1-PD Probability of Default rating,
the Ba2 senior secured second-lien term loan rating, the
B2 senior unsecured guaranteed notes rating, the B3 senior unsecured
unguaranteed notes rating and the SGL-2 Speculative Grade Liquidity
rating are all unaffected. The rating outlook is stable.
The proceeds from these notes are expected to be used to redeem the existing
Ba3 Euro 250 million senior unsecured guaranteed notes due 2023 in a largely
debt-neutral transaction.
Goodyear Europe B.V. is the primary offshore financing subsidiary
of Goodyear and has an unrated Euro 800 million secured revolving credit
facility along with the Euro 250 million senior unsecured guaranteed notes
to be repaid with this issuance.
Moody's took the following action on Goodyear Europe B.V.:
- New Gtd. Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
assigned at Ba3 (LGD3)
RATINGS RATIONALE
Goodyear's ratings reflect its strong global position as a manufacturer
of aftermarket and original equipment tires supported by a leading market
share position in North America, good scale and growth in higher-margin,
17-inch and larger tires. The addition of Cooper Tire &
Rubber Company (Cooper Tire) in Q2 2021 strengthens Goodyear's US replacement
tire position while also meaningfully boosting the original equipment
tire business in China where demand is accelerating. The acquisition
increased debt-to-EBITDA (including Moody's standard adjustments)
towards 6x but should result in annual free cash flow of over $200
million that can be directed to debt repayment. As a result,
Moody's expects debt-to-EBITDA to fall towards 4x by year-end
2022. The EBITA margin is expected to rebound sharply in 2021 and
resume growth in 2022 as continued cost savings and distribution synergies
gain traction.
The stable outlook reflects Moody's expectations for industry tire volumes
to continue rebounding into 2022, leading to improved cost absorption
and higher margins. The combined entity should generate strong
cash flow sufficient to fund growth investments and debt repayment while
maintaining a sizable cash position and modest reliance on revolving credit
facilities.
Goodyear's SGL-2 Speculative Grade Liquidity Rating is supported
by Moody's expectation for maintenance of a robust cash position ($1
billion at June 30, 2021) and significant availability under various
revolving credit facilities. At June 30, 2021 the company
had over $2.3 billion of availability (zero drawn) under
its $2.75 billion asset-based lending facility (ABL)
expiring 2026 and full availability under Goodyear Europe B.V.'s
Euro 800 million revolving credit facility set to expire 2024.
Moody's expects normalized annual free cash flow to comfortably exceed
$200 million even with higher growth investments in working capital
and capital expenditures.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
The ratings could be upgraded with improving margins, boosted by
better than anticipated savings/synergies from the Cooper Tire acquisition.
The expectation that meaningful, positive free cash flow will be
used for debt reduction such that debt-to-EBITDA falls towards
3.5x or EBITA-to-interest eclipses 3x could also
warrant positive rating action. Ratings could be downgraded if
the EBITA margin declines to the mid-5x range, free cash
flow falls well shy of Moody's expected level or debt-to-EBITDA
approaches 6x. EBITA-to-interest below 2.5x
could also result in a downgrade. Ratings pressure could also arise
from a meaningful decline in liquidity, including increased reliance
on revolving credit facilities.
The principal methodology used in this rating was Automotive Suppliers
published in May 2021 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1276105.
Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is one of the largest tire manufacturers
in the world. Revenue for the latest twelve months ended June 30,
2021 was approximately $14.6 billion.
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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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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Eric Greaser
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
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Dean Diaz
Associate Managing Director
Corporate Finance Group
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