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AM Best Assigns Issue Credit Ratings to UnitedHealth Group Incorporated’s New Senior Unsecured Notes and New Shelf Registrations
Rhea-AI Impact
(Low)
Rhea-AI Sentiment
(Very Positive)
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Rhea-AI Summary
AM Best has assigned Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings of “a” (Excellent) to UnitedHealth Group's recently issued senior unsecured notes, totaling $6.5 billion. These include $1.25 billion due 2029, $1.5 billion due 2033, $2 billion due 2053, and $1.75 billion due 2063. The debt issuance supports refinancing of short-term debt from the LHC Group Inc. acquisition, valued at approximately $6 billion. UnitedHealth's financial leverage is projected to rise to 44%, with ongoing strong operational performance and liquidity.
Positive
Assigned 'a' Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings to $6.5 billion in senior unsecured notes.
Proceeds from debt issuance will refinance short-term debt from LHC Group acquisition.
Strong operational performance and liquidity maintained with $18 billion revolving credit.
Negative
Projected increase in financial leverage to 44% post-issuance, though manageable.
OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
AM Best has assigned Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings (Long-Term IR) of “a” (Excellent) to UnitedHealth Group Incorporated’s (UnitedHealth Group) (Minnetonka, MN) [NYSE: UNH] recently issued $1.25 billion4.250% senior unsecured notes, due 2029, $1.5 billion4.5% senior unsecured notes, due 2033, $2 billion5.05% senior unsecured notes, due 2053, and $1.75 billion5.2% senior unsecured notes, due 2063. In addition, AM Best has assigned indicative Long-Term IRs of “a-” (Excellent) to subordinated issues, “bbb+” (Good) to preferred stock and “a” (Excellent) to senior unsecured issues of the recently filed shelf registration to UnitedHealth Group. The outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. Concurrently, AM Best has withdrawn the ratings on the previous shelf registrations. UnitedHealth Group’s Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a” (Excellent), its Long-Term IRs and the ratings of its insurance subsidiaries are unchanged.
The proceeds from the debt issuance will be used for general corporate purposes, including refinancing short-term debt that was used to finance the LHC Group Inc. (LHC) acquisition, valued at approximately $6 billion including the retirement of LHC debt, which closed early this year. The LHC acquisition will strengthen UnitedHealth Group’s home health services. Following the repayment of commercial paper and upcoming maturities, AM Best anticipates the issuance to increase the group’s adjusted financial leverage ratio approximately 44%. However, UnitedHealth Group has managed to bring its financial leverage down to the 40% range over time taking active actions to deleverage following sizeable acquisitions. As of Dec. 31, 2022, the group’s financial leverage was 41.4%. The organization maintains strong earnings before interest and taxes interest coverage in the low double digits. UnitedHealth Group has excellent liquidity through parent company cash, insurance subsidiary dividend capacity, non-regulated cash flow, commercial paper program and a $18 billion revolving credit agreement. A steady stream of revenue development and earnings growth have resulted in a solid operating performance trend over the past several years underpinned by UnitedHealth Group’s operations at UnitedHealthcare and at Optum. The organization expects this growth to continue over the medium term.
This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.
AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.
