New York, September 27, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) assigned a Baa2 rating to AGCO International
Holdings B.V.'s proposed senior unsecured Euro notes.
The notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by parent company
AGCO Corporation (AGCO -- Baa2). The rating outlook is stable.
The proceeds from these notes are expected to be used to repay multiple
senior term loans in a largely debt-neutral transaction.
Moody's took the following action on AGCO International Holdings B.V.:
Assignments:
..Issuer: AGCO International Holdings B.V.
....Gtd Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
Assigned Baa2
Outlook Actions:
..Issuer: AGCO International Holdings B.V.
....Outlook, Assigned Stable
RATINGS RATIONALE
AGCO is one of four global farm equipment manufacturers along with Deere
& Company, CNH Industrial N.V. and Kubota Corporation.
Although the smallest by revenue, AGCO maintains a competitive position
in the sector, with a particularly strong presence in Europe.
The company has a track record of expanding margins and returns when markets
are stable or growing, while also effectively managing costs in
order to contain margin erosion during downturns. It has also executed
a disciplined acquisition strategy that has been funded in a manner that
has not compromised the strength of its balance sheet - Moody's
expects any future acquisitions to remain consistent with this approach.
The precision farming sector will continue to expand as the need to feed
a growing world population increases the need for more efficient farming
technology. AGCO has made sound investments in this area,
expanding revenue and remaining well-positioned to benefit from
the sector's growing importance.
A critical element of AGCO's operating and financial strategy is the provision
of retail and wholesale financing through a finance joint venture (JV)
with Rabobank. The JV (49% owned by AGCO and 51%
owned by Rabobank) has a portfolio of receivables of approximately $10.8
billion at June 30, 2021. By relying on the JV to provide
retail and wholesale funding, AGCO is relieved of the funding and
credit loss burden typically associated with a wholly owned captive finance
operation. Importantly, we believe that this JV structure
provides AGCO with a highly reliable source of funding for its customers
and dealers.
The stable outlook reflects AGCO's competitive position within an industry
that has favorable long-term demand fundamentals. It also
recognizes the company's strategy of maintaining a prudent financial and
liquidity position.
AGCO maintains good liquidity that is supported by a June 2021 cash position
of $500 million, $540 million in availability under
a bank credit facility and annual free cash flow that Moody's expects
to approximate $400 million. These liquidity sources afford
sound coverage of the approximately $375 million in debt maturing
over the next twelve months.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATING
AGCO's rating could be downgraded if the company adopts a more aggressive
financial strategy resulting in debt-to-EBITDA exceeding
3x and the EBITA margin falling below 6%. The rating could
be upgraded, over the long term, if AGCO can sustain an EBITA
margin over 10% and debt-to-EBITDA below 1.75x.
AGCO Corporation is a leading manufacturer of agricultural equipment and
related replacement parts. The company generated approximately
$10.5 billion in revenue for the latest twelve months ended
June 30, 2021. The company has access to wholesale and retail
financing through finance joint ventures with Coöperatieve Centrale
Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank B.A. (Rabobank).
The principal methodology used in this rating was Manufacturing published
in September 2021 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1287885.
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
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
case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed prior
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and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action,
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if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
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This rating is solicited. Please refer to Moody's Policy
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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 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
office that issued the credit rating is available on www.moodys.com.
The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was
issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the UK and is endorsed
by Moody's Investors Service Limited, One Canada Square,
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Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
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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.
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:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
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JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
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