DBRS Confirms Woodbridge Finance at R-1 (middle), A (high), Stable Trend

DBRS has today confirmed the Commercial Paper and Medium-Term Notes ratings of Woodbridge Finance Corporation (Woodbridge Finance) at R-1 (middle) and A (high), respectively. The ratings reflect the implicit rating of its parent, The Woodbridge Company Limited (Woodbridge), which guarantees certain borrowings of Woodbridge Finance. Woodbridge owns approximately 55% of the common shares of Thomson Reuters Corporation (Thomson Reuters, rated R-1 (low) and A (low) by DBRS), in addition to a portfolio of other assets.

Woodbridge Finance’s ratings are supported by the following factors: (1) pledged Thomson Reuters shares must equal at least 1.5 times the commercial paper outstanding and 2.0 times the notes outstanding; (2) committed bank backup lines; (3) a guarantee from Woodbridge; and (4) the quarterly dividends received from Thomson Reuters along with income from its investment portfolio.

On April 17, 2008, Thomson Reuters was created with The Thomson Corporation’s acquisition of Reuters Group PLC (Reuters) for roughly $19.5 billion (including debt). Senior executives of Woodbridge who are on the Thomson Reuters board of directors remain on the board of both companies.

In addition to its interests in Thomson Reuters, Woodbridge has other passive investments, including its 40% stake in CTVglobemedia, which collectively have an aggregate carrying value of over $3.0 billion at September 30, 2008.

Note:
All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

The applicable methodology is Rating Parent – Holding Companies, which can be found on our website under Methodologies.

This is a Corporate rating.