New York, December 28, 2016 -- Moody's Investors Service assigned a P-2 Short-term
rating to Johnson Controls International plc (JCI plc), which will
issue commercial paper going forward instead of its subsidiary,
Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI). JCI's outstanding
commercial paper will be repaid by early-February 2017, at
which time JCI's P-2 short-term rating will be withdrawn.
JCI plc's long-term rating of Baa1 and stable outlook are
not affected.
Moody's also downgraded the long-term ratings of the senior
unsecured notes of JCI and Tyco International Finance S.A.
(TIFSA) to Baa2 from Baa1, with the completion of the exchange for
new JCI plc notes scheduled to settle today. Moody's will
also withdraw the ratings on all of the JCI and TIFSA notes that were
not tendered in the exchange and the issuer rating of JCI, as Moody's
expects that there will not be sufficient information available going
forward to maintain the ratings. Moody's also withdrew the
(P)Baa1 Senior unsecured shelf rating of TIFSA, the (P)Baa1 Medium-term
note program rating of JCI and TIFSA's P-2 short-term
rating as this entity no longer issues commercial paper. Subsidiary,
Tyco International Holdings, S.a.r.l.
(TSARL) maintains a $1 billion commercial paper program.
RATINGS RATIONALE
On 28 November 2016, Moody's assigned Baa1 ratings to the
18 series of new senior unsecured notes that JCI plc will issue in the
Exchange Offer. The effect of the debt exchange and the new commercial
paper program will be to simply the group's debt structure,
with JCI plc as the main issuer of debt going forward. The company
will also have more flexibility to move assets and operations among its
legal entities, making the financial position of the TIFSA and JCI
subsidiaries uncertain.
The downgrades of the JCI and TIFSA ratings reflect the weakened position
of these obligations following the exchange because of the lack of protective
covenants. A sufficient number of debt holders of JCI and TIFSA
tendered and consented to the stripping of covenants pursuant to the terms
of the Exchange Offer, including the requirement to provide financial
statements for these issuers. The ratings will be withdrawn because
without financial statements, Moody's will be unable to effectively
monitor the creditworthiness of TIFSA or of JCI.
JCI plc will have two commercial paper programs, a $2 billion
US-program as well as a €2 billion Euro-program.
Commercial paper will be supported by a committed $2 billion revolving
credit facility and cash expected to be at least $300 million.
JCI plc is anticipated to generate consolidated free cash flow of about
$1 billion, of which about 40% will be from the legacy
Tyco operations and earmarked for reduction of debt at TSARL.
Johnson Controls International plc, headquartered in Cork,
Ireland is the ultimate holding company of Johnson Controls, Inc.
and Tyco International Finance S.A. Johnson Controls,
Inc., headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
is a leading global provider of lead-acid automotive batteries
and advanced batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles; and,
services and solutions to optimize energy and operational efficiencies
of buildings. The Tyco businesses hold leading positions in fire
protection and security products and services across global commercial,
institutional and government markets. Moody's estimates annual
revenue of about $30 billion in fiscal 2017.
Moody's has withdrawn the ratings because it believes it has insufficient
or otherwise inadequate information to support the maintenance of the
ratings. Please refer to the Moody's Investors Service's Policy
for Withdrawal of Credit Ratings, available on its website,
www.moodys.com.
Downgrades:
..Issuer: Johnson Controls, Inc.
....Issuer Rating, Downgraded to Baa2
from Baa1
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debentures,
Downgraded to Baa2 from Baa1
..Issuer: Tyco International Finance S.A.
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debentures,
Downgraded to Baa2 from Baa1
Assignments:
..Issuer: Johnson Controls International plc
....Senior Unsecured Commercial Paper,
Assigned P-2
Withdrawals:
..Issuer: Tyco International Finance S.A.
....Senior Unsecured Commercial Paper,
Withdrawn , previously rated P-2
....Senior Unsecured Shelf, Withdrawn
, previously rated (P)Baa1
..Issuer: Johnson Controls, Inc.
....Senior Unsecured Medium-Term Note
Program, Withdrawn , previously rated (P)Baa1
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Global Manufacturing
Companies published in July 2014. Please see the Rating Methodologies
page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
rating practices. For ratings 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 to the assignment of the definitive
rating in a manner that would have affected the rating. For further
information please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the
respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
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.
The below contact information is provided for information purposes only.
Please see the ratings tab of the issuer page at www.moodys.com,
for each of the ratings covered, Moody's disclosures on the
lead analyst and the Moody's legal entity that has issued the ratings.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued
the rating.
Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Jonathan Root
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Robert Jankowitz
MD - Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653