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Moody’s Corporation Announces Pricing Terms and Acceptance of Notes of Its Cash Tender Offer

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Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO) announced the pricing terms for its cash offer to purchase certain series of outstanding notes totaling up to $500 million. The offer extends to various senior notes with specified acceptance priority levels, with the highest priority given to a 2.550% Senior Note due in 2060. The early tender date for the offer is set for December 13, 2022, with payments made on December 15, 2022. Citigroup Global Markets is the dealer manager, and the offer's success depends on the satisfaction of specific conditions outlined in the Offer to Purchase.

Positive
  • Successful acceptance of all Notes with Acceptance Priority Level 1.
  • Total Consideration is inclusive of an Early Tender Payment.
Negative
  • Other Notes with Acceptance Priority Levels 2 to 4 will not be accepted.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO) (“Moody’s”) today announced the pricing terms of its previously announced offer to purchase for cash (the “Offer”) up to an aggregate purchase price of its outstanding series of notes listed in the table below (collectively, the “Notes”), from holders thereof (the “Holders”), based on the acceptance priority levels noted in the table below, with 1 being the highest Acceptance Priority Level and 4 being the lowest Acceptance Priority Level (the “Acceptance Priority Levels”). The Offer is being made pursuant to the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase, dated as of November 30, 2022 (as amended, the “Offer to Purchase”).

The applicable “Total Consideration” offered per $1,000 principal amount of each series of Notes validly tendered, and not validly withdrawn, prior to or at 5:00 p.m., New York City Time, on December 13, 2022 (the “Early Tender Date”) was determined in the manner described in the Offer to Purchase by reference by reference to the applicable fixed spread for each series of Notes specified in the Offer to Purchase (the “Fixed Spread”), plus the applicable yield to maturity (the “Reference Yield”) based on the bid-side price of the applicable U.S. Treasury Reference Security specified in the Offer to Purchase (the “Reference Security”), as quoted on the Bloomberg Bond Trader FIT1 series of pages, at 10:00 am New York City time, on December 14, 2022, unless extended or earlier terminated by Moody’s with respect to one or more series of Notes (the “Price Determination Date”).

Title of

Security

CUSIP / ISIN

Principal

Amount

Outstanding

Acceptance

Priority

Level

U.S. Treasury

Reference

Security

Bloomberg

Reference

Page

Fixed

Spread

Early

Tender

Payment (a)

Total

Consideration (a)

 

2.550%
Senior Notes
due 2060

615369 AU9 /
US615369AU95

$500,000,000

1

3.000%
U.S. Treasury
due August 15,
2052

FIT1

+110 bps

$50

$628.52

3.100%
Senior Notes
due 2061

615369 AX3 /
US615369AX35

$500,000,000

2

3.000%
U.S. Treasury
due August 15,
2052

FIT1

+125 bps

$50

$701.90

2.750%
Senior Notes
due 2041

615369 AV7 /
US615369AV78

$600,000,000

3

4.000%
U.S. Treasury
due November 15,
2042

FIT1

+110 bps

$50

$745.10

3.250%
Senior Notes
due 2050

615369 AT2 /
US615369AT23

$300,000,000

4

3.000%
U.S. Treasury
due August 15,
2052

FIT1

+135 bps

$50

$752.73

 _______________________

(a)

Per $1,000 principal amount. The Total Consideration for Notes set forth in the table above is calculated using the applicable Fixed Spread specified on the table above and is inclusive of the Early Tender Payment.

Because Moody’s previously increased the maximum purchase amount to a sufficient amount (as amended, the “Maximum Purchase Amount”) in order for Moody’s to accept all the Notes with Acceptance Priority Level 1 set forth in the table above, Moody’s is accepting for purchase the aggregate purchase price of only the Notes with Acceptance Priority Level 1 validly tendered, and not validly withdrawn, prior to or at the Early Tender Date. No Notes validly tendered, and not validly withdrawn, prior to or at the Early Tender Date with Acceptance Priority Levels 2 through 4, and no Notes of any series validly tendered after the Early Tender Date, will be accepted for purchase.

Holders who validly tendered, and did not validly withdraw, their Notes prior to or at the Early Tender Date and whose Notes were accepted for purchase will receive the applicable Total Consideration.

In addition to the Total Consideration, all Holders of Notes accepted for purchase will also receive accrued and unpaid interest on the Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase from the last applicable interest payment date, up to, but not including, the Early Settlement Date, payable on such Early Settlement Date. Payment for the Notes that were validly tendered, and not validly withdrawn, prior to or at the Early Tender Date and that are accepted for purchase will be made on December 15, 2022 (the “Early Settlement Date”).

The Offer is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions, which are set out in the Offer to Purchase, including the Maximum Purchase Amount, the Acceptance Priority Levels and the proration procedures.

Moody’s has engaged Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (“Citigroup”) to act as the sole dealer manager (the “Dealer Manager”) in connection with the Offer, and has appointed Global Bondholder Services Corporation (“GBSC”) to serve as the depositary and information agent (the “Depositary and Information Agent”) for the Offer. Copies of the Offer to Purchase and related Offer documents are available via the Offer website at https://www.gbsc-usa.com/moodys/ or by contacting GBSC via telephone at +1 (212) 430-3774 (collect) or +1 (855) 654 2014 (toll-free) or via e-mail at contact@gbsc-usa.com. Questions regarding the terms of the Offer should be directed to Citigroup at +1 (212) 723-6106 (collect) or +1 (800) 558-3745 (toll-free).

None of Moody’s or its affiliates, their respective boards of directors, the Dealer Manager, the Depositary and Information Agent or the trustee for the Notes, is making any recommendation to any Holder as to whether such Holders should tender or refrain from tendering any securities in response to any of the Tender Offers, and neither Moody’s nor any such other person has authorized any person to make any such recommendation. Holders must make their own decision as to whether to tender any of their Notes and, if so, the principal amount of Notes to tender.

This press release is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the Notes, nor is it a solicitation for acceptance of the Offer. Moody’s is making the Offer only by, and pursuant to the terms of, the Offer to Purchase and related Offer documents. The Offer is not being made in any jurisdiction in which the making or acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities, blue sky, or other laws of such jurisdiction.

ABOUT MOODY’S CORPORATION

Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) is a global integrated risk assessment firm that empowers organizations to make better decisions. Its data, analytical solutions and insights help decision-makers identify opportunities and manage the risks of doing business with others. We believe that greater transparency, more informed decisions, and fair access to information open the door to shared progress. With approximately 14,000 employees in more than 40 countries, Moody’s combines international presence with local expertise and over a century of experience in financial markets.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements, which include statements relating to the Offer, and are based on future expectations, plans and prospects for Moody’s business and operations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Such statements involve estimates, projections, goals, forecasts, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those contemplated, expressed, projected, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. Holders are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof, and Moody’s undertakes no obligation (nor does it intend) to publicly supplement, update or revise such statements on a going-forward basis, whether as a result of subsequent developments, changed expectations or otherwise, except as required by applicable law or regulation. Moody’s is identifying certain factors that could cause actual results to differ, perhaps materially, from those indicated by these forward-looking statements. Those factors, risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the risk that the Offer may not be completed on the proposed terms, or at all; the impact of general economic conditions, including inflation and related monetary policy actions by governments in response to inflation, on worldwide credit markets and economic activity and its effect on the volume of debt and other securities issued in domestic and/or global capital markets; the global impacts of each of the crisis in Ukraine and COVID-19 on volatility in the U.S. and world financial markets, on general economic conditions and gross domestic product in the United States and worldwide, on global relations and on Moody’s own operations and personnel; other matters that could affect the volume of debt and other securities issued in domestic and/or global capital markets, including regulation, credit quality concerns, changes in interest rates, inflation and other volatility in the financial markets; the level of merger and acquisition activity in the United States and abroad; the uncertain effectiveness and possible collateral consequences of U.S. and foreign government actions affecting credit markets, international trade and economic policy, including those related to tariffs, tax agreements and trade barriers; the impact of MIS’s withdrawal of its credit ratings on Russian entities and of Moody’s no longer conducting commercial operations in Russia; concerns in the marketplace affecting our credibility or otherwise affecting market perceptions of the integrity or utility of independent credit agency ratings; the introduction of competing products or technologies by other companies; pricing pressure from competitors and/or customers; the level of success of new product development and global expansion; the impact of regulation as a nationally recognized statistical rating organization, the potential for new U.S., state and local legislation and regulations; the potential for increased competition and regulation in the EU and other foreign jurisdictions; exposure to litigation related to our rating opinions, as well as any other litigation, government and regulatory proceedings, investigations and inquiries to which Moody’s may be subject from time to time; provisions in U.S. legislation modifying the pleading standards and EU regulations modifying the liability standards, applicable to credit rating agencies in a manner adverse to credit rating agencies; provisions of EU regulations imposing additional procedural and substantive requirements on the pricing of services and the expansion of supervisory remit to include non-EU ratings used for regulatory purposes; uncertainty regarding the future relationship between the United States and China; the possible loss of key employees; failures or malfunctions of our operations and infrastructure; any vulnerabilities to cyber threats or other cybersecurity concerns; the timing and effectiveness of Moody’s restructuring programs, such as the 2022 - 2023 Geolocation Restructuring Program; currency and foreign exchange volatility; the outcome of any review by controlling tax authorities of Moody’s global tax planning initiatives; exposure to potential criminal sanctions or civil remedies if Moody’s fails to comply with foreign and U.S. laws and regulations that are applicable in the jurisdictions in which Moody’s operates, including data protection and privacy laws, sanctions laws, anti-corruption laws, and local laws prohibiting corrupt payments to government officials; the impact of mergers, acquisitions, such as our acquisition of RMS, or other business combinations and the ability of Moody’s to successfully integrate acquired businesses; the level of future cash flows; the levels of capital investments; and a decline in the demand for credit risk management tools by financial institutions. These factors, risks and uncertainties as well as other risks and uncertainties that could cause Moody’s actual results to differ materially from those contemplated, expressed, projected, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements are described in greater detail under “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of Moody’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, and in other filings made by Moody’s from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or in materials incorporated herein or therein. Stockholders and investors are cautioned that the occurrence of any of these factors, risks and uncertainties may cause Moody’s actual results to differ materially from those contemplated, expressed, projected, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements, which could have a material and adverse effect on Moody’s business, results of operations and financial condition. New factors may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Moody’s to predict new factors, nor can Moody’s assess the potential effect of any new factors on it.

SHIVANI KAK

Investor Relations

212.553.0298

shivani.kak@moodys.com

MICHAEL ADLER

Corporate Communications

212.553.4667

michael.adler@moodys.com

moodys.com

ir.moodys.com

moodys.com/esg

moodys.com/sustainability

Source: Moody’s Corporation Investor Relations

FAQ

What is the purpose of Moody's recent offer regarding its notes?

Moody's announced an offer to purchase certain series of its outstanding notes for cash, totaling up to $500 million.

What is the Early Tender Date for Moody's cash offer?

The Early Tender Date for the offer is December 13, 2022.

When will the payments for accepted notes be made?

Payments for notes accepted in the offer will be made on December 15, 2022.

Who is the dealer manager for Moody's cash offer?

Citigroup Global Markets Inc. is acting as the sole dealer manager for the offer.

What are the Acceptance Priority Levels in Moody's offer?

The offer categorizes notes into four Acceptance Priority Levels, with Level 1 having the highest priority for acceptance.

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