New York, April 13, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) downgraded Cyxtera DC
Holdings, Inc.'s (Cyxtera) corporate family rating
(CFR) to Caa1 from B2 and its probability of default rating to Caa1-PD
from B2-PD. Cyxtera's senior secured first lien credit
facility, consisting of a $915 million term loan and a $150
million revolver, was downgraded to B3 from B1 and a $310
million senior secured second lien term loan was downgraded to Caa2 from
Caa1. These downgrades are the result of weaker than expected revenue
and EBITDA growth, weak margins, limited evidence of sustained
improvement in bookings and churn trends, growing cash flow deficits,
weakening liquidity and Moody's expectations for continued elevated
leverage (Moody's adjusted).
The outlook change to negative from stable reflects Moody's view
of Cyxtera's continuing execution risks associated with delivering
sustainable EBITDA growth, driving debt leverage (Moody's
adjusted) lower, and reducing rising cash flow deficits.
Downgrades:
..Issuer: Cyxtera DC Holdings, Inc.
.... Probability of Default Rating,
Downgraded to Caa1-PD from B2-PD
.... Corporate Family Rating, Downgraded
to Caa1 from B2
....Senior Secured First Lien Bank Credit
Facility, Downgraded to B3 (LGD3) from B1 (LGD3)
....Senior Secured Second Lien Bank Credit
Facility, Downgraded to Caa2 (LGD5) from Caa1 (LGD5)
Outlook Actions:
..Issuer: Cyxtera DC Holdings, Inc.
....Outlook, Changed To Negative From
Stable
RATINGS RATIONALE
Cyxtera's Caa1 CFR reflects governance risks, specifically
the likelihood that leverage (Moody's adjusted) will remain elevated
for the next two years given the aggressive financial policy of the company's
private equity owners and the potential for distressed debt exchanges
given persistently high leverage and a weakening liquidity position.
Despite its position as the second largest global independent data center
operator offering retail colocation and interconnection services,
Cyxtera has faced persistent difficulties growing revenue and EBITDA since
its 2017 carveout from CenturyLink, Inc. (CenturyLink,
Ba3 stable). The company's credit profile also reflects execution
difficulties as a standalone entity, weaker than expected bookings
growth and churn mitigation, significant industry risks, intensifying
competition and the high capital intensity required to drive stronger
top line growth. Despite relatively low capacity utilization across
Cyxtera's aggregated facilities, demand from specific markets
hasn't necessarily aligned with such availability and has resulted in
high capital spending since the 2017 carveout which has persistently delayed
deleveraging. Improved productivity from the company's revamped
and now regionally-focused sales force is necessary to better tie
revenue growth to success-based capital investing in underutilized
facilities.
Moody's expects Cyxtera will continue to generate meaningfully negative
free cash flow in 2020. Without substantial success from likely
liquidity initiatives and sustainable EBITDA growth traction, Moody's
expects Cyxtera will face increasing liquidity difficulties by early 2021,
and will be heavily reliant on its revolver which matures in May 2022.
These factors are offset by Cyxtera's relatively stable base of
contracted recurring core revenue, strong network footprint in Tier
1 markets, the company's concerted efforts to reduce operating
costs begun in 2019 and continuing in 2020, owned data center assets
that can be monetized, and secular growth trends for data center
services globally.
The communications infrastructure industry is expected to be more resilient
than many sectors as the coronavirus outbreak has widened and the global
economic outlook deteriorates. Moody's does not anticipate reduced
colocation demand initially as a result of a weakening US economy.
Cyxtera could see payment delinquencies from smaller customers over time
if any economic downturn is prolonged. Moody's expects no
supply chain disruptions in the short term for the industry, but
second half 2020 supply shortages of certain equipment and infrastructure
necessary for capacity expansions could result from an elongated economic
shock. Moody's will take rating actions as warranted to reflect
the breadth and severity of the shock as it unfolds and potentially negatively
impacts Cyxtera's credit quality.
The negative outlook reflects the risk that Cyxtera may not be able to
sustainably improve weak revenue and EBITDA trends and reduce rising cash
flow deficits. Cyxtera's credit metrics will remain under
pressure over the next 12-18 months given limited traction on bookings
and churn improvement, high debt leverage and constrained liquidity.
FACTORS THAT WOULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS:
Moody's could lower Cyxtera's ratings further if the company's operating
performance does not improve, its liquidity deteriorates,
if it pursues distressed debt exchanges or if capital spending is reduced
below a level necessary to support revenue growth. Moody's could
upgrade Cyxtera's ratings if debt/EBITDA (Moody's adjusted) approaches
7.0x and free cash flow/debt (Moody's adjusted) was positive,
both on a sustained basis. Moody's could stabilize Cyxtera's
outlook if the company improves its weak operating trends and sustains
steady deleveraging.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Communications Infrastructure
Industry published in September 2017 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1076924.
Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
Headquartered in Coral Gables, FL, Cyxtera consists of 62
carrier-neutral data centers providing colocation services across
3 continents to over 2,300 customers diversified across industries.
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.
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Neil Mack, CFA
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
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Lenny J. Ajzenman
Associate Managing Director
Corporate Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
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