New York, October 29, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") placed the ratings of Scientific
Games International, Inc. ("Scientific Games" or "SGI") under
review for upgrade, including the company's B3 Corporate Family
Rating ("CFR"), B3-PD Probability of Default Rating,
B1 rated senior secured facilities and senior secured notes, and
Caa2 rated senior unsecured notes. The company's Speculative Grade
Liquidity rating remains SGL-2.
On October 27, 2021 Scientific Games announced [1] it has entered
into a definitive agreement to sell its Lottery business to Brookfield
Business Partners L.P. for total consideration of $6.05
billion, consisting of $5.825 billion of cash and
an earn-out of up to $225 million. The transaction
is expected to close in calendar Q2 2022 and is subject to applicable
regulatory approvals.
Moody's review will focus on the level of debt reduction,
which is expected to be significant, and the company's go-forward
capital structure following the sale of the Lottery business and the previously
announced sale of the company's Sports Betting business.
Total gross proceeds from the sale of the Lottery and Sports Betting businesses
are over $7 billion. The review will additionally focus
on assessing the continued recovery and trajectory of the company's
gaming operations, including gaming, igaming, and SciPlay
business, balanced by the reduction of scale, diversification,
and distribution following the sale of the Lottery and Sports Betting
businesses. Moody's estimates that gross debt-to-EBITDA
could be under the 6.0x debt-to-EBITDA potential
upgrade factor with only a partial debt repayment from the sale of the
Lottery and Sports Betting businesses. The divestitures follow
from the company's strategic review earlier in 2021 that included plans
to meaningfully reduce leverage. Moody's will assess in its review
how the company plans to utilize the divestiture proceeds to realize this
goal including through debt reduction and reinvestment through organic
development and acquisitions.
Scientific Games' decision to divest the Lottery and Sports Betting businesses
will leave the company with Gaming, iGaming, and SciPay businesses,
enabling the company to focus on its land-based and digital markets
which have a large total addressable market and opportunity for growth.
Moody's expects the company to focus on content franchises utilizing a
cross-platform gaming approach, leveraging content creation
investments and enabling player trends.
The following ratings/assessments are affected by today's action:
On Review for Upgrade:
..Issuer: Scientific Games International, Inc.
.... Corporate Family Rating, Placed
on Review for Upgrade, currently B3
.... Probability of Default Rating,
Placed on Review for Upgrade, currently B3-PD
....Senior Secured Term Loan B5, Placed
on Review for Upgrade, currently B1 (LGD3)
....Gtd Senior Secured Multi Currency Revolving
Credit Facility, Placed on Review for Upgrade, currently B1
(LGD3)
....Gtd Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility,
Placed on Review for Upgrade, currently B1 (LGD3)
....Gtd Senior Secured Global Notes,
Placed on Review for Upgrade, currently B1 (LGD3)
....Senior Unsecured Notes, Placed on
Review for Upgrade, currently Caa2 (LGD5)
....Gtd Senior Unsecured Global Notes,
Placed on Review for Upgrade, currently Caa2 (LGD5)
Outlook Actions:
..Issuer: Scientific Games International, Inc.
....Outlook, Changed To Rating Under
Review From Stable
RATINGS RATIONALE/FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF
THE RATINGS
Scientific Games' existing B3 CFR reflects the meaningful revenue and
earnings decline from efforts to contain the coronavirus and the potential
for an uneven recovery as its gaming customers' properties have reopened.
The rating also considers the company's significant debt-to-EBITDA
leverage level, which Moody's anticipates will remain above 8x at
year end 2021 before considering the Lottery and Sports Betting divestiture
effect. Another key credit concern is the relatively flat outlook
for slot machine demand in the US, with the company's new games
and cabinets looking to help drive performance in the Gaming operating
segment. Revenues are largely tied to the volume of gaming machine
play, gaming machine sales, and lotteries. Positive
rating consideration is given to SGI's large recurring revenue base during
normal operational periods. The company is also well positioned
to benefit from the growth of digital gaming products, as the market
continue to expand and mature. SGI currently owns a large portfolio
of complementary gaming products and services, both digital and
non-digital, that it can utilize and cross-sell globally
among its various distribution platforms.
The company's speculative-grade liquidity rating of SGL-2
reflects good liquidity and a growing and sizable cash balance built in
part through continued positive free cash flow. SGI has amended
its credit facility and covenant levels providing covenant relief through
year end 2021. The company is subject to a minimum liquidity covenant
throughout 2021 of $275 million with which Moody's believes the
company will remain in compliance. As of June 30, 2021,
SGI had unrestricted cash of $932 million and $353 million
of availability on its $650 million revolving credit facility.
In July 2021 the company repaid another $150 million on the revolver.
Moody's anticipates the company will continue to repay amounts outstanding
on its revolving credit facility. Moody's estimates the company
could maintain sufficient internal cash sources after maintenance capital
expenditures to meet required annual term loan amortization of approximately
$44 million and interest requirements over the next twelve-month
period.
The coronavirus outbreak and the government measures put in place to contain
it continue to disrupt economies and credit markets across sectors and
regions. Although an economic recovery is underway, the recovery
is tenuous, and continuation will be closely tied to containment
of the virus. As a result, a degree of uncertainty around
our forecasts remains. Moody's regards the coronavirus outbreak
as a social risk under our ESG framework, given the substantial
implications for public health and safety. The gaming sector has
been one of the sectors most significantly affected by the shock given
its sensitivity to consumer demand and sentiment. More specifically,
Scientific Games remains vulnerable to a renewed spread of the outbreak.
Scientific Games also remains exposed to discretionary consumer spending
that leave it vulnerable to shifts in market sentiment in these unprecedented
operating conditions.
Governance risk are elevated because the company's aggressive financial
policy including acquisitions is contributing to very high leverage.
Moody's believes the company will focus on debt repayment over the next
year to help reduce leverage.
Ratings could be downgraded if liquidity deteriorates or if Moody's anticipates
Scientific Games' earnings recovery will be more prolonged or weaker than
expected because of actions to contain the spread of the virus or reductions
in discretionary consumer spending.
The ratings could be upgraded if customer facilities remain open and earnings
recover such that the company maintains positive free cash flow and reinvestment
flexibility. Debt-to-EBITDA sustained near 6.0x
through improved earnings, debt reduction, or application
of divestiture proceeds is also necessary for an upgrade.
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.
Scientific Games is a developer of technology-based products and
services and associated content for worldwide gaming, lottery,
social and digital gaming markets. Scientific Games Corporation
(NASDAQ:SGMS) is the publicly traded parent company of Scientific
Games International, Inc., the direct borrower of over
$8 billion of rated debt. Consolidated revenue for the latest
12-month period ended June 30, 2021 was $3.07
billion and would be approximately $1.9 billion pro-forma
for the agreed Lottery and Sports Betting divestitures.
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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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
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support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action
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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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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 http://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1288235.
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.
The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was
issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the UK and is endorsed
by Moody's Investors Service Limited, One Canada Square,
Canary Wharf, London E14 5FA under the law applicable to credit
rating agencies in the UK. Further information on the UK endorsement
status and on the Moody's office that issued the credit rating is
available on www.moodys.com.
REFERENCES/CITATIONS
[1] Scientific Games Corporation press release dated October 27,
2021
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.
Adam McLaren
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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Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
John E. Puchalla, 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
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JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653