NOTE: On August 2, 2018, the press release was corrected as follows: In the methodology paragraph of the Ratings Rationale section, the principal methodology was changed to Semiconductor Industry Methodology published in December 2015. Revised release follows.
New York, July 24, 2018 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") assigned
first time ratings to the debt of the Lumentum Holdings, Inc.
("Lumentum")-- Corporate Family Rating ("CFR")
of Ba3 and Probability of Default Rating ("PDR") of Ba3-PD,
a Ba2 rating to the Senior Secured Term Loan B ("Term Loan"),
and a Speculative Grade Liquidity ("SGL") rating of SGL-2.
The rating outlook is stable.
Lumentum intends to use the proceeds of the Term Loan and balance sheet
cash to acquire Oclaro ("Oclaro") for $5.60
cash and 0.0636 Lumentum shares per Oclaro share, or about
$1.6 billion of equity value (excluding transaction expenses).
Assignments:
..Issuer: Lumentum Holdings, Inc.
.... Probability of Default Rating,
Assigned Ba3-PD
.... Speculative Grade Liquidity Rating,
Assigned SGL-2
.... Corporate Family Rating, Assigned
Ba3
....Senior Secured Bank Credit Facility,
Assigned Ba2 (LGD3)
Outlook Actions:
..Issuer: Lumentum Holdings, Inc.
....Outlook, Assigned Stable
RATINGS RATIONALE
The Ba3 CFR reflects Lumentum's established niche market leadership
position in Telecommunications Optical Components used in optical communications
networks, and Moody's expectation for improving financial
leverage. Debt to EBITDA of about 3.1x (latest twelve months
ended March 31, 2018, proforma for Oclaro, Moody's
adjusted excluding anticipated synergies) at the closing of the acquisition
should decline toward the lower 2x level over the year following closing
as synergies are captured. This level of closing leverage is modest
relative to many similarly-rated issuers and reflects the large
equity component of the Oclaro acquisition, with equity comprising
about $638 million or about 40% of the $1.6
billion purchase price. Moreover, the acquisition of Oclaro
diversifies Lumentum's revenue base in the optical communications
space and increases scale, raising revenues to about $1.7
billion.
This level of leverage is prudent given the significant execution risks
in integrating Oclaro, which will increase Lumentum's revenue
base by nearly 50%. Lumentum's revenues are volatile
due to short product life cycles, particularly in the Consumer &
Industrial segment due to the large smartphone market exposure,
the large customer concentration to the few optical networking equipment
manufacturers, who are supplied by several other optical components
firms in addition to Lumentum and Oclaro, and the large product
concentration in 3D sensing chips for the smartphone market, which
Moody's estimates accounts for about 20% of the $1.7
billion of proforma revenues. Revenues in individual segments are
volatile due to end market demand, which is driven by data center
infrastructure upgrade cycles, and the small number of product families.
Free cash flow ("FCF") is also volatile due to the moderate
capital intensity of both Lumentum and Oclaro, reflecting integrated
manufacturing supplemented by contract manufacturing partners.
The Ba2 rating on the proposed Term Loan reflects the collateral,
comprised of a first priority lien on the company's assets,
and large cushion of unsecured liabilities, including the $450
million convertible notes. Lumentum's SGL-2 speculative
grade liquidity ("SGL") rating reflects Lumentum's good
liquidity profile. Although Lumentum does not maintain access to
a revolving credit facility, Moody's expects annual FCF to
be in excess of $175 million annually and at least $450
million of cash to be maintained on the balance sheet.
The stable rating outlook reflects Moody's expectation of mid to
high single digit percentage revenue growth, the EBITDA margin improving
towards the upper twenties percent level (Moody's adjusted),
and FCF in excess of $175 million annually. The outlook
also incorporates Moody's expectation that Lumentum will integrate
Oclaro into its operations over the next year without material disruption
to operations. Moody's expects that Lumentum will prioritize
debt reduction and will capture operating expense synergies, such
that debt to EBITDA (Moody's adjusted) will decline towards the
low 2x level over the year following closing.
The ratings could be upgraded if (i) Lumentum successfully integrates
Oclaro without material operational disruption (ii) revenue growth is
sustained at least in the mid-single digits percent and is balanced
across business segments (iii) product and customer diversification improves
and (iv) anticipated cost synergies are captured such that the EBITDA
margin (Moody's adjusted) is sustained above 20% and debt
reduction is prioritized, with debt to EBITDA (Moody's adjusted)
maintained below 2x.
The ratings could be downgraded if (i) revenues fail to increase by at
least the low single-digits percent (ii) Lumentum experiences operational
disruptions in its integration of Oclaro (iii). customer or product
revenue concentration increases or (iv) Lumentum engages in shareholder-friendly
actions while leverage exceeds 3x debt to EBITDA (Moody's adjusted).
The principal methodology used in these ratings was the Semiconductor
Industry Methodology published in December 2015. Please see the Rating Methodologies
page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.
Lumentum Holdings, Inc., based in Milpitas, California,
manufactures and sells optical semiconductor components used in optical
networking communications equipment and industrial lasers used in precision
manufacturing.
Oclaro, Inc., based in San Jose, California,
manufactures and sells optical semiconductor chips used in optical networking
communications equipment.
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.
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.
Terrence Dennehy
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
Lenny J. Ajzenman
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