Covenant-lite loans not a main rating factor-Moody's

(Reuters) - "Covenants tend to rank a somewhat distant third to debt
cushion and security in terms of importance for recovery,"
Moody's analyst Michael Rowan said in a new report.




Recent trends toward increasingly larger senior debt
tranches, more sharing of collateral between creditor classes
and higher leverage may result in lower debt ratings in both
North American and European markets, the report said.


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UPDATE 1-Moody's may cut $5.0 bln of CDO RMBS tranches

(Reuters) - Moody's said the CDO tranches affected were rated "Baa" or
lower and the move follows cuts it made on Tuesday to 399 RMBS
secured by subprime mortgage loans. Moody's also placed 32
additional issues under review for downgrade on Tuesday.




"The rating actions taken today were based on the CDOs'
current respective portfolios and the CDOs' structures,"
Moody's said. The rating agency said it was reviewing whether
current ratings assigned were still consistent with revised
loss expectations.


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Moody's cuts second-lien subprime RMBS, raises others

(Reuters) - Moody's also upgraded 52 securities backed by second lien
RMBS.




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RLPC-UPDATE 1-Swift & Co. pulls $600 mln junk bond deal--sources

(Reuters) - J.P. Morgan was leading the Rule 144A private placement
deal with a "Caa2" rating by Moody's Investors Service and
"B-minus" rating by Standard & Poor's, according to KDP
Investment Advisors. The bond offering is backed by a $600
million bridge loan.




The offer consisted of a $200 million senior cash-pay
tranche due 2015; a $200 million senior toggle tranche due
2015; and a $200 million senior floating-rate tranche due
2014.


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UPDATE 2-Fitch, S&P cut Hilton's rating on acquisition

(Reuters) - Another agency, Moody's Investors Service, said it may cut
Hilton's ratings and will base its decision on the company's
capital structure when the deal closes.




Blackstone agreed on Tuesday to buy Hilton for about $20
billion plus debt, the richest in a series of recent private
equity offers for hotel companies. For details see
[ID:nN03234692].


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Moody's sees threats to sky-high pharma ratings

(Reuters) - Strong cashflows, healthy profits and low leverage remain
the norm in the sector for now but Moody's reckons the outlook
is "moderately negative", given looming threats to key patents,
likely further acquisitions and shareholder calls for buybacks.




In a new report on European pharmaceutical companies, the
agency forecasts a long-term negative bias in rating trends for
these issuers.


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PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - June 18

(Reuters) - * Airbus is finalizing an order with US Airways Group Inc.
for up to 30 jets valued at $7 billion, in a boost for
its A350 jetliner program.




* Moody's move to slash ratings on 131 bonds backed by
pools of speculative subprime loans could weigh on the already
fragile subprime bond market.


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