New York, November 30, 2020 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") assigned a Baa2 rating to McKesson
Corporation's ("McKesson") new senior unsecured notes. The rating
agency also assigned a (P)Baa2 rating to McKesson's senior unsecured
shelf registration. There is no change to the company's existing
Baa2 senior unsecured rating and Prime-2 senior unsecured commercial
paper rating or the stable outlook.
Moody's expects that McKesson will use proceeds from the $500
million of new senior unsecured notes for refinancing purposes.
The company had $700 million of unsecured notes that matured today
and plans to repay early $323 million of unsecured notes that mature
in March 2021. The combination of these transactions on a net basis
will be modestly deleveraging.
Ratings assigned:
McKesson Corporation
Senior unsecured notes due 2025 at Baa2
Senior unsecured shelf at (P)Baa2
RATINGS RATIONALE
McKesson's rating benefits from a significant revenue base and its position
as one of the nation's leading drug distributors. It also reflects
Moody's view that, despite industry-wide pressures,
the large drug distributors will continue to play an important role in
the US drug supply chain. McKesson's rating is further supported
by Moody's expectation that it will maintain moderate financial leverage,
aided in part by its strong cash flow. McKesson's debt to
EBITDA was 2.3 times as of September 30, 2020. However,
McKesson's rating is constrained by uncertainty surrounding its potentially
large opioid litigation exposure. McKesson's rating is also constrained
by thin operating margins, as well as relatively high customer concentration.
McKesson's retail pharmacy business outside the US adds greater geographic
and business line diversity, but also the risks of operating in
highly price-regulated markets.
The stable outlook reflects Moody's belief that McKesson will sustain
moderate leverage and significant operating scale over the next 12-18
months. The outlook also reflects Moody's expectation that McKesson
will pursue a prudent approach to acquisitions and share repurchases until
there is greater certainty regarding opioid-related liabilities.
McKesson faces high social risk due to its significant, yet uncertain
liability relating to the opioids crisis. The potential liabilities
arise from allegations that McKesson did not properly monitor and flag
suspicious orders placed by its pharmacy customers. From a governance
standpoint, McKesson does not provide a public leverage target,
despite its long history of generally maintaining low leverage.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
The ratings could be downgraded if McKesson experiences profit margin
contraction, material customer losses or other material business
headwinds. The ratings could be downgraded if the company pursues
large debt-funded share buybacks or acquisitions, particularly
before there is clarity around McKesson's litigation exposure.
Specifically, if McKesson's debt/EBITDA is sustained above 2.5
times, Moody's could downgrade the ratings. A downgrade could
also occur if the credit impact of McKesson's opioid-related financial
liabilities significantly exceeds the impact of the currently contemplated
proposed settlement (e.g., greater liability or shorter
duration for payment). Including the adjustment for the treatment
of a settlement liability as debt, a downgrade could occur if RCF/debt
is sustained below 20% or debt/EBITDA is sustained above 3.0
times.
A ratings upgrade is unlikely as long as there is material uncertainty
around McKesson's ultimate opioid-related liabilities. That
said, if a comprehensive settlement is reached, an upgrade
could occur if debt/EBITDA is sustained below 2.5 times,
including the debt treatment of the liability.
McKesson Corporation, headquartered in Irving, Texas,
is a leading drug distributor and a distributor of medical-surgical
products to physician offices and other non-acute care settings.
Revenues for the LTM period ended September 30, 2020 totaled $234
billion.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Distribution &
Supply Chain Services Industry published in June 2018 and available at
https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1121974.
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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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
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and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action,
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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
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review.
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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
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for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Jonathan Kanarek, CFA
VP - Senior Credit Officer
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