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

DBRS has today confirmed the Commercial Paper and Medium-Term Notes ratings of Woodbridge Finance Corporation (Woodbridge Finance or the Company) at R-1 (middle) and A (high), respectively. Woodbridge Finance is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Woodbridge Company Limited (Woodbridge), which is the main investing vehicle for the Thomson family. Woodbridge holds 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’s previous 72% ownership of The Thomson Corporation became a 55% position in the combined companies after acquiring the Reuters Group PLC (Reuters) for roughly $19.5 billion (including debt) in April 2008. Senior executives of Woodbridge remain directors on the board of the combined company.

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 (see details below); and (4) the quarterly dividends received from Thomson Reuters along with income from its investment portfolio.

In addition to its interests in Thomson Reuters, Woodbridge has other passive investments, including its 40% stake in CTVglobemedia Inc., which collectively had an aggregate carrying value of more than $3 billion at the end of 2009

Notes:
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.