New York, January 29, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) has upgraded to A1 the ratings of
the below listed deals following the upgrade of Morgan Stanley's
senior unsecured rating to A1 on January 27, 2021.
• Black Belt Energy Gas District Gas Prepay Revenue Bonds (Project
No. 4), 2019 Series A
• Black Belt Energy Gas District Gas Prepay Revenue Bonds (Project
No.5), 2020 Series A-1 & A-2
• Northern California Gas Authority No. 1, Gas Project
Revenue Bonds, Series 2007 B
• Public Energy Authority of Kentucky, Gas Supply Revenue Bonds,
2018 Series C-1 through 2018 Series C-4
• Public Energy Authority Of Kentucky, Gas Supply Revenue Bonds,
2019 Series A-1-A-2
• Public Energy Authority of Kentucky, Gas Supply Revenue Bonds,
2019 Series C
• Southeast Alabama Gas Supply District, Gas Supply Revenue
Bonds (Project No. 2), Series 2018A & 2018B
Please click on this link https://www.moodys.com/viewresearchdoc.aspx?docid=PBC_ARFTL439719
for the List of Affected Credit Ratings. This list is an integral
part of this Press Release and identifies each affected issuer.
RATINGS RATIONALE
The ratings of the above deals take into account the following factors:
(i) the credit quality of Morgan Stanley (A1) as guarantor for payments
due under the prepaid gas agreements, receivables purchase agreements
(when applicable), the back-end commodity swaps (when applicable)
and the interest rate swaps (when applicable),
(ii) the structure and mechanics of the transactions which provide for
the payment of debt service consistent with the rating assigned to the
Bonds, and
(iii) for Northern California Gas Authority No. 1, Gas Project
Revenue Bonds, Series 2007 B only the credit quality of (i) Sacramento
Municipal Utility District, CA (Aa3) as municipal participant and
(ii) Royal Bank of Canada (Aa2(cr)) as commodity swap provider.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OF THE RATINGS
» Upgrade of the long-term rating of Morgan Stanley
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO A DOWNGRADE OF THE RATINGS
» Downgrade of the long-term rating of Morgan Stanley
The principal methodology used in these ratings was US Gas Prepayment
Bonds Methodology published in July 2019 and available at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBM_1142804.
Alternatively, Please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com
for a copy of this methodology.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
The List of Affected Credit Ratings announced here are all solicited credit
ratings. Additionally, the List of Affected Credit Ratings
includes additional disclosures that vary with regard to some of the ratings.
Please click on this link https://www.moodys.com/viewresearchdoc.aspx?docid=PBC_ARFTL439719
for the List of Affected Credit Ratings. This list is an integral
part of this Press Release and provides, for each of the credit
ratings covered, Moody's disclosures on the following items:
• Rating Solicitation
• Issuer Participation
• Participation: Access to Management
• Participation: Access to Internal Document
• Disclosure to Rated Entity
• Endorsement
• Lead Analyst
• Releasing Office
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
debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures
in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the
same series, category/class of debt, security 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.
Moody's general principles for assessing environmental, social
and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at https://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBC_1243406
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.
Joann Hempel
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Public 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
Florence Zeman
Associate Managing Director
Public 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