New York, May 14, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") today assigned
a Baa2 rating to Boston Scientific Corporation's ("Boston
Scientific") offering of senior unsecured notes. There is
no change to Boston Scientific's existing ratings including the
Baa2 senior unsecured rating and Prime-2 commercial paper rating.
The outlook remains stable.
Proceeds of the offering will be used to refinance borrowings under the
company's $2.75 billion revolving credit facility
and to prepay a portion of the $1 billion term loan due February
2021 and the $1.25 billion term loan due April 2021.
Moody's views the transaction as credit positive as it is leverage
neutral and will lengthen the company's debt maturity profile.
Ratings assigned:
Issuer: Boston Scientific Corporation
Senior unsecured notes at Baa2
RATINGS RATIONALE
Boston Scientific Baa2 senior unsecured rating reflects its meaningful
scale in the medical device industry with revenues in excess of $10
billion. The company has delivered solid execution of new product
launches, evidenced by a track record of high single digit organic
revenue growth across its portfolio. The company also benefits
from good product and end market diversity. It has leading market
positions in a number of its key markets including interventional cardiology,
endoscopy, urology and cardiac rhythm management. Boston
Scientific's credit profile is constrained by its willingness to
increase debt to fund acquisitions, most recently its August 2019
acquisition of BTG Plc for approximately $4 billion and debt/EBITDA
is currently in the mid three times range. Moody's expects
Boston Scientific will continue to delever following recent acquisitions,
though the pace of improvement will likely be slower than our previous
expectations due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
ESG considerations are material to Boston Scientific's credit profile.
Moody's regards the coronavirus outbreak as a social risk under Moody's
ESG framework, given the substantial implications for public health
and safety. The rapid and widening spread of the coronavirus outbreak,
deteriorating global economic outlook, falling oil prices,
and asset price declines are creating a severe and extensive credit shock
across many sectors, regions and markets. The combined credit
effects of these developments are unprecedented. Although the medical
device segment is somewhat less exposed from a demand standpoint than
other sectors, the diversion of healthcare resources to treating
the outbreak will reduce demand for some medical device products.
Boston Scientific has meaningful exposure to products used in elective
procedures which have been postponed as health systems focus on the coronavirus
outbreak. Over time Moody's expects these deferred procedures
will take place, though the pace and timing of a recovery remains
uncertain. In addition, global supply chains in the medical
device industry are complex, and it is possible that supply disruptions
will cause product delays and affect revenue of some products.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
Ratings could be upgraded if Boston Scientific is able to demonstrate
a return to historical revenue and operating earnings growth after the
impact of the coronavirus subsides while maintaining balanced financial
policies. Quantitatively ratings could be upgraded if debt/EBITDA
is sustained below 2.5 times.
Ratings could be downgraded if Boston Scientific continues to increase
debt levels to fund acquisitions at a time when debt/EBITDA is currently
elevated. Ratings could also be downgraded if the company is unsuccessful
integrating acquisitions. Quantitatively ratings could be upgraded
if debt/EBITDA is expected to be sustained above 3 times.
Boston Scientific Corporation is a leading global medical device manufacturer
headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The company
specializes in devices used in a broad range of interventional medical
specialties including cardiovascular, cardiac rhythm management,
and urology. The company's revenues exceed $10 billion.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Medical Product and
Device Industry published in June 2017 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1071635.
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
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
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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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.
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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.
Scott Tuhy
Senior Vice President
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
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Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Jessica Gladstone, CFA
Associate Managing Director
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Releasing Office:
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JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
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