New York, November 11, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") changed
ADMI Corp.'s ("ADMI", dba Aspen Dental) outlook to stable
from negative and affirmed its B2 Corporate Family Rating, the B2-PD
Probability of Default Rating, and the B2 first lien senior secured
debt rating.
The stabilization of the outlook reflects Aspen's return of patient
volumes to near pre-coronavirus levels. At the same time,
strong cost management has enabled the company to maintain strong profitability
and cash flow through the coronavirus pandemic. The stable outlook
also reflects Moody's view that another nationwide mandate to defer
dental services is unlikely. Aspen's geographic diversity
should limit the impact from coronavirus outbreaks in any particular region.
The affirmation of the B2 CFR reflects the company's good liquidity
and moderately high financial leverage. Aspen's adjusted
debt/EBITDA approximated 5.0x for the twelve months ended September
30, 2020. This level of leverage, along with the company's
ability to reduce variable costs and growth capital expenditures if necessary,
positions the company well to withstand the potential for further stress
from the coronavirus pandemic and/or a weakening of the economy.
Moody's took the following rating actions:
ADMI Corp.
Corporate Family Rating affirmed at B2
Probability of Default Rating affirmed at B2-PD
Senior Secured Bank Credit Facilities affirmed at B2 (LGD3)
Outlook action:
Outlook, changed to stable from negative
RATINGS RATIONALE
Aspen Dental's B2 Corporate Family Rating reflects its moderately high
financial leverage and aggressive growth strategy, with 70 to 80
new office openings per year. Moody's expects that these
factors will constrain profitability margins and free cash flow over the
next several years. The rating is also constrained by the high
proportion of self-pay revenues, as patients typically are
responsible for a large portion of their bill and rely on third party
financing arrangements. The rating also reflects the lingering
operating uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic. Despite
these challenges, the rating reflects the company's strong market
position as one of the largest dental service organizations (DSO) in the
US. The rating also takes into account Aspen's good geographic
diversity and solid track record of business execution and growth.
Moody's expects Aspen Dental will maintain good liquidity with about $60
million of cash and a $75 million undrawn revolving credit facility,
expiring in 2023. Aspen has been able to conserve liquidity by
reducing new office openings and growth capital expenditures, but
Moody's believes these activities will resume to prior levels as
the risk from the coronavirus pandemic ebbs. As a result,
Moody's expects free cash flow to be modestly positive over the
next 12-18 months.
Moody's considers coronavirus to be a social risk given the risk to human
health and safety. Aside from coronavirus, Aspen Dental faces
other social risks such as the rising concerns around the access and affordability
of healthcare services. However, Moody's does not consider
the DSOs to face the same level of social risk as many other healthcare
providers. From a governance perspective, Moody's expects
Aspen Dental's financial policies to remain aggressive due to its private
equity ownership.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
The ratings could be downgraded if the company's liquidity weakens or
if debt/EBITDA is sustained above 6 times. A material reduction
in free cash flow or additional debt funded transactions could also result
in a ratings downgrade.
An upgrade is possible if Aspen Dental adopts more conservative financial
policies and maintains debt/EBITDA below 4.5 times. Additionally,
a less aggressive new office opening strategy that resulted in improved
profitability and cash flow could support an upgrade.
Aspen Dental provides business support services to its 843 affiliated
dental offices across 42 states. The company is privately-held
and majority-owned by Ares Management, LP and Leonard Green
& Partners, L.P., with the remaining 20%
owned by American Securities, management and dentists. The
company's audited financials do not consolidate the practice ownership
program ("POP") practices. As of September 30, 2020,
excluding POP offices, the company generated net revenues of approximately
$863 million, while the consolidated net revenues for all
dental offices, including POP offices, was approximately $1.4
billion for the same period.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Business and Consumer
Service Industry published in October 2016 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1037985.
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
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.
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for Designating and Assigning Unsolicited Credit Ratings available on
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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.
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.
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for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Jaime Johnson
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
Jessica Gladstone, CFA
Associate Managing Director
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Releasing Office:
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