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(Alliance News) - Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday reasserted Flutter Entertainment PLC's ratings and said the outlook on the ratings "remains stable".
The credit ratings agency reaffirmed the corporate family rating at Ba1 and its probability of default rating at Ba1-PD for the Dublin-based gambling group.
Moody's said the rating action was in response to Flutter's announcement last Thursday that it would buy online gaming operator Sisal from CVC Capital Partners Fund in a EUR1.91 billion deal. The acquisition will be initially financed by a bridge facility.
At the time, Flutter said the move formed part of its bid to establish "a gold medal position" in the Italian market. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.
"The affirmation of Flutter's ratings reflects Moody's expectation that the company will be committed to deleveraging and the strengthening of key credit metrics post its acquisition of Sisal," Moody's said.
"The stable outlook on Flutter's ratings reflect Moody's expectations that the company will be committed to deleveraging post the Sisal acquisition and that the company has sufficient financial flexibility in order to achieve this through its strong free cash flow generation and cash on balance sheet as well as a potential part IPO of its FanDuel business," the credit ratings agency added.
By Will Paige; willpaige@alliancenews.com
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