New York, May 18, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") affirmed
the ratings of Aimbridge Hospitality Holdings, LLC ("Aimbridge")
including its B3 corporate family rating, B3-PD probability
of default rating and B3 senior secured bank credit facility rating.
At the same time, Moody's revised the company's outlook
to stable from negative.
"The revision of Aimbridge's outlook to stable reflects Moody's
expectation that the company's operations will benefit from the
strong growth in leisure travel this summer and it will be able to reduce
leverage to below 6.5x over the next two years," stated
Pete Trombetta, Moody's lodging analyst. The change
in outlook to stable also reflects that Aimbridge has sufficient liquidity
to support its operations over the next twelve to eighteen months as it
earnings recover from the impact of travel restrictions related to the
pandemic. Aimbridge's earnings suffered in 2020 as a majority
of its revenue is tied to the revenue per available room ("RevPAR")
of the hotels the company manages. While Aimbridge reports that
its RevPAR levels have exceeded peers over the last six months,
these levels were still more than 50% below 2019 levels.
Leverage will remain high over the next two years due to this earnings
pressure along with the $200 million in incremental debt raised
in 2020 to bolster its liquidity and the $500 million debt related
to its 2019 acquisition of Interstate Hotels & Resorts.
Affirmations:
..Issuer: Aimbridge Hospitality Holdings, LLC
.... Probability of Default Rating,
Affirmed B3-PD
.... Corporate Family Rating, Affirmed
B3
.... GTD Senior Secured Bank Credit Facility,
Affirmed B3 (LGD3)
Outlook Actions:
..Issuer: Aimbridge Hospitality Holdings, LLC
....Outlook, Changed To Stable From
Negative
RATINGS RATIONALE
Aimbridge's credit profile is constrained by its high debt/EBITDA
which will well exceed its downgrade factor of 6.5x over the next
two years given the material decline in earnings due to travel restrictions
related to the spread of COVID-19 (all metrics include Moody's
standard adjustments). Historically, Aimbridge's scale is
small in terms of revenue and earnings relative to other single B rated
Business and Consumer Services companies. Aimbridge's credit
profile benefits from its exposure to leisure travel which is expected
to see material year-over-year growth this summer as well
as its good diversification in terms of geography, brands,
and hotel owners. Under normal conditions the combined company
will benefit from strong free cash flow due in part to its minimal capital
expenditure requirements.
Aimbridge has adequate liquidity which supports its ability to get through
this period of material earnings pressure. The company had $130
million of cash at the end of 2020 along with full availability under
its $120 million revolver due 2024. We expect the company's
cash needs will exceed its cash inflow in the first half of 2021 but improve
in the second half. The company's net first lien leverage
covenant is only tested if 35% of its revolver is drawn,
we do not expect the covenant will be tested over the next 12 months.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
Ratings could be downgraded if the recovery in lodging fundamentals expected
in the second half of 2021 stalls for any reason. Longer term,
ratings could be downgraded if debt/EBITDA does not recover to below 6.5x
or EBITA/interest expense is not sustained above 1.0x, or
if the probability of default increases for any reason. Any deterioration
in liquidity would also lead to negative ratings pressure. Ratings
could be upgraded if debt/EBITDA sustained below 6.0x and EBITA/interest
coverage is sustained above 1.5x.
Aimbridge Acquisition Co., Inc., through its
subsidiaries Aimbridge Hospitality Holdings, LLC and KIHR Holdings
Inc., is the largest third-party hotel operator,
with over 1,275 properties and approximately 183,000 rooms
under management. Aimbridge's managed properties are located in
49 states and 20 countries. The company is majority owned by Advent
International. The company is private and does not file public
financials.
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
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and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at http://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1263068.
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
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The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was
issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the UK and is endorsed
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for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Peter Trombetta
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
Margaret Taylor
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
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JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653