Business & Finance
Business and Finance
Business and Finance
Wed, August 11, 2010
Tue, August 10, 2010 Fitch Rates Simon Property Group's $900MM 4.375% Sr Unsecured Notes 'A-'; Outlook Stable
NEW YORK--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Fitch Ratings has assigned an 'A-' rating to the new $900 million par value 4.375% senior unsecured notes due 2021 issued by Simon Property Group, L.P. Simon Property Group, L.P. is the majority-owned operating partnership of Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE: SPG). The notes were priced at 99.6% of the principal amount to yield 4.42% to maturity. The Issuer Default Ratings for Simon Property Group, Inc. and Simon Property Group, L.P. are both 'A-' with a Stable Outlook.
Net proceeds from the offering will be used to fund the cash purchase of certain notes issued by the company pursuant to the tender offer commenced on Aug. 9, 2010 and for general corporate purposes.
The 'A-' rating is supported by a large, well-diversified portfolio of assets, strong liquidity position, significant financial flexibility, solid debt service coverage ratios, and a large pool of unencumbered assets. Credit concerns include challenging operating conditions, significant exposure to joint venture partners, and the potential for investment activity to negatively impact the company's credit profile.
This rating reflects the application of Fitch's current criteria which are available at [ www.fitchratings.com ] and specifically include the following reports:
--'Parent and Subsidiary Rating Linkage' (July 14, 2010);
--'Criteria for Rating U.S. Equity REITs and REOCs' (April 16, 2010);
--'Recovery Rating and Notching Criteria for REITs' (Dec. 23, 2009);
--'Corporate Rating Methodology' (Nov. 24, 2009);
--'Evaluating Corporate Governance' (Dec. 12, 2007).
Simon Property Group, Inc. is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana and as of June 30, 2010, had an interest in 373 retail real estate properties comprising 256 million square feet of gross leasable area in North America, Europe and Asia. As of June 30, 2010, the company had $31.2 billion in gross book assets, an equity market capitalization of $28.4 billion and a total market capitalization of $51.9 billion.
Additional information is available at [ www.fitchratings.com ].
Related Research:
Evaluating Corporate Governance
[ http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=363502 ]
Corporate Rating Methodology
[ http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=489018 ]
Recovery Rating and Notching Criteria for REITs
[ http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=492828 ]
Criteria for Rating U.S. Equity REITs and REOCs
[ http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=510465 ]
Parent and Subsidiary Rating Linkage Criteria Report
[ http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=534826 ]
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